


We do this together

by Chillervaniller97



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anomaly (The 100 (TV)), Bardo, Diyoza lives, Domestic Fluff, Echope - Freeform, F/F, Fluff, Gabechope is the trio we need and deserve, Happy Ending, I would tag this but I don't want to spoil the fic so I won't, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Mothers and Daughters, Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, Skyring, bc I love her and the rat had done her dirty, bc they broke up in s6, be ready for a surprise tho ;), maybe smut idk yet, past Becho, protective echo, sanctum - Freeform, sassy Hope, season 7, soft, this fic will play in canon but I will throw in a few changes here and there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:08:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 55,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25915630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chillervaniller97/pseuds/Chillervaniller97
Summary: Hope is a lesbian and no matter what the rat does to her character that fact won't change!This will follow canon in the beginning as you see in the first few chapters, but in the following chapters my story will finally start, so bear with me!We’ll follow our favorite trio throughout Skyring, Bardo and then finally Sanctum. This will be a happy ending story, in which no lesbian nor badass mother dies.OrSeason 7 rewrite, kinda fix it fic and of course Echope endgame
Relationships: Charmaine Diyoza & Hope Diyoza, Echo/Hope Diyoza, Octavia Blake & Charmaine Diyoza
Comments: 30
Kudos: 68





	1. Welcome to the party

**Author's Note:**

> Hi and welcome :)
> 
> English is not my mothertongue so idk mistakes happen lmao
> 
> “Something else came through.” The former prime voiced out.  
> “Welcome to the party.” Echo answered as she helped him up. Sarcasm didn’t help in this situation but this was clearly not a normal situation.

“Bellamy.” The brunette voiced out in shock, seeing how her ex-boyfriend was being dragged away. She couldn’t see what it was, it was like the air suddenly developed arms to grab him.

Echo ran after him. She would save him, no matter the cost. They survived so much together. Mount weather and praimfaya. They traveled across the stars, while being in cryo, to land on this godforsaken planet. She would do anything for him, her loyalty demanding it even after they broke up a few days ago.

To say that Echo was pissed was an understatement. She was furious. What the hell dragged Bellamy away? How could she fight an enemy she couldn’t see? And who was that girl that stabbed Octavia? What happened to the younger Blake?

So many questions and no answers. That was what drove Echo mad. All these questions in her mind and the worry about Bellamy.

Suddenly she felt like she ran against something solid, although there was nothing there to block her path. Echo fell backwards, feeling how the air in her lungs getting knocked out of her. Standing up again, she was hurled through the air falling harder than the first time.

Echo gasped out, due to shock and pain. How could she fight an enemy she couldn’t see? It was not possible. But as a warrior she wasn’t about to give up. No. She would fight, even until she breathed her last breath. That she owned Bellamy for saving her all those years back.

Gabriel sprinted out from the tent, calling out for Bellamy. Not aware that he was gone. Not aware what danger awaited him outside. When he saw that Echo laid on the hard forest floor, he ran to her.

“We’re not alone.” The spy called out and stood up, holding a hand out to stop him from coming any further. “Get inside. Watch the girl.”

“She’s already gone.” Gabriel grimaced when he remembered the pain his chest, where the girl punched him mere seconds ago. He needed to know who the girl was. What were those symbols on her face? These symbols who looked like the ones Octavia had on her back. “Come on, we can still catch her.” As soon as he finished his sentence, something knocked him off his feet making him fly backwards.

Echo looked on in shock as Gabriel flew a few inches across the forest. She ran to him, looking around her for anything that might give this invisible enemy away. But there was nothing. Not even a twig that snapped or a dip in the forest floor.

“Something else came through.” The former prime voiced out.

“Welcome to the party.” Echo answered as she helped him up. Sarcasm didn’t help in this situation but this was clearly not a normal situation.

Gabriel had many questions that went through his mind. Just like Echo did. “Where is Bellamy?”

“It took him, towards the anomaly.” Whatever it is, Echo was sure to find it and kill it if necessary.

Gabriel freaked out. This didn’t make any sense for his logical mind. “No no no.” He swirled his index finger in the air, trying to grasps what the hell was going on “Time is not behaving.” Suddenly remembering that Octavia went into the anomaly after Diyoza and coming out after a few seconds. Her arm completely healed, as if she spent years inside the green vortex. “We have to get inside first.” He grabbed his bag, which contained the only important thing to him. Josephine’s mind drive.

Echo picked up her gun, ready to shoot the next best thing that was moving. Sick and tired of this situation. 

“Echo you can’t shoot what you can’t see”

“Stop talking! I’m making up a path. Follow me!” Then she ran into the direction of the anomaly, shooting into thin air, Gabriel right behind her. 

They ran for a few minutes when Gabriel suddenly stopped. Echo turned around with an irritated look on her face. “What the hell are you doing?” Why would they stop now? Every second counts to get Bellamy back. This thing already having a big head start.

“Making sure we aren’t followed.” The former prime observed his surroundings.

“Followed by what?” This is getting ridicules. They don’t even know what this thing was. They couldn’t see this thing, so why would Gabriel try to make sure they aren’t being followed. “Have you ever seen anything like that?”

Of course, Gabriel didn’t. Not in his 270 years life spam. Something like this is not possible, shouldn’t be possible. The two of them were startled by a snapping twig. Gabriel dropped his bag onto the floor, not risking that the content inside would take any damage if he was swirled into the air again. Meanwhile Echo made herself ready to shoot anything that dared to come any closer.

She looked around herself franticly, trying to make out from where the sound came from, taking a few steps away from where she stood next to her companion. All of a sudden, the girl who stabbed Octavia knocked herself into the spy, bringing them both down before Echo had the chance to shoot her.

Hope tried to wrestle the gun out of Echo’s hands. The younger girl punched the gun away and it fell to the floor, leaving Echo without a weapon. The spy threw a punch at Hope, but she somehow blocked it. Even the second punch she blocked with ease. Hope grasped Echo’s right arm, spinning her around, so now her front was pressed into Echo’s back.

“I don’t want to hurt you.” Hope stated, pushing Echo away from her. Putting her fists up after Echo turned around. Somehow, she knew how to fight, her muscle memory practically ordering her to do so.

Echo looked at the girl. Stunned at her moves. How could a girl this young, manage to overthrow her? A girl that didn’t even look like a thread. She wasn’t a normal girl, this much was clear. And she appeared right before this thing took Bellamy away. “Who are you? Where is Octavia and why are they taking Bellamy into the anomaly?”

“Bellamy is gone.” Hope asked stunned, although she didn’t know him.

“You know him? You remember.” Gabriel observed the situation while being silent until now. He needed to know what made this girl so special.

“No.” Hope got frustrated. Why couldn’t she remember anything? “You called for him from the tent.” She reached into her back pocket, looking down at the little note that was rolled together. “This was in my arm.” When Hope discovered the reason why her arm hurt so bad, she was shocked to say the least. 

She handed the note to Echo, who had a skeptical look on her face. Still not trusting this girl in front of her. Echo looked down and read what was written on it. “Trust Bellamy.” The note was tainted with Hope’s blood. On one side Bellamy’s name and on the other another code.

“I don’t remember putting it there, but I think I’ve must have.” Hope voiced out. Why couldn’t she remember? What does this all mean? Did she write this note herself?

Gabriel took the note out of the grounder’s grasps to observe it himself. “There is another code.” This did get Hope’s attention. Gabriel knew something. “Like the one on Octavia’s back. What’s it for?” He turned to Hope.

“I don’t know.” ‘Great, another dead end’ Hope thought.

By now Echo was frustrated to the point where she snapped. Echo wasn’t the type to snap that easily but this was a mess. “Stop lying!”

“Easy. Octavia lost her memory too. Must be a result at moving through the anomaly.” He crouched down, his gaze never leaving the bloody note in his hands. Gabriel’s mind went wild with possible theories.

“What’s the anomaly?”

“You tell us.” Echo didn’t believe the girl one bit. She had to remember, there is no way she would remember Octavia’s name without remembering anything else.

“It’s the sound you hear.” Gabriel answered, still deep in thoughts. Wanting to come up with a plausible theory to the memory loss.

“You said Octavia’s name, right before you stabbed her.” Echo took a few steps forward, wanting to seem threatening. “You remember then. You remember now.” Having a look on her face, that told Hope she saw right through her lies.

Now Gabriel had a theory “The anomaly was on top of us then.” Standing up again, he went into his science mode. “Yeah yeah yeah. Then she lost her memory when it receded. Taking Octavia with it. But why just her? Why the memory loss?” Gabriel rambled all while Echo and Hope looked at each other suspiciously, not trusting the other. “Nothing of this makes any sense but my god it’s incredible.” The scientist in him gotten thrilled at such things.

“We need to get to Bellamy.” Hope disrupted any further theoretical talk of the man.

The theory of Gabriel didn’t make any sense to the grounder, but she accepted it for now. After hearing that Hope had the same goal, she somewhat trusted her a little more. And frankly Hope was the only connection to Bellamy right now. “How fast can you run.” Echo looked at the girl, who defeated her in one-on-one combat, wanting to know what other hidden talents she had.

“I don’t know.” Hope smiled. Things have gotten interesting all of a sudden. They figured something out and now they only had to find Bellamy to figure out the rest. Hope was already getting tired of her memory loss. “Let’s find out.” She raised an eyebrow at the spy, who looked back unimpressed. 

The younger girl turned around and sprinted into the direction of the so called anomaly, while Gabriel grabbed his bag and Echo the gun before running after her. And boy did the girl could run. She was really fast, faster than anyone Echo had ever known in her life.

The anomaly was an hour by foot away from Gabriel’s tent. It was already dark when Gabriel stopped them “Wait wait wait. Too much toxin in the air.” He stopped within the dark forest, making the girls stop with him. “I’m not in the mood to see my ghosts right now. Are you?” The man squatted down and reached inside his bag. He pulled an oxygen mask out and took a deep breath, inhaling whatever gas was filled with it. 

Suddenly a yellow laser beam struck through the air. Making a whistling sound while doing so. It hit a tree nearby them and the trio quickly took cover behind another tree.

“It shoots, it can be shoot at.” Echo said to Gabriel. That was enough confirmation she needed. She would kill that thing. Now another light beam howled through the air, hitting yet another tree nearby. “That was a bad shot. Even from far away.” The spy observed. This thing is either blind or it’s on purpose. So she left the cover of the tree to stand in the open.

“Echo. Echo what are you doing!?” Gabriel exclaimed, thinking this woman gone mad. 

“Testing a theory.” She said coolly and standing still, looking ahead of her to see where the light beam comes from. She took a few steps ahead and another beam fired into her direction, only this time it hit the ground next to her. Echo closed her eyes, her adrenaline makes her heart pump faster than ever before in her life.

“A theory? If you’re wrong…” The former prime didn’t want to think about the possible outcome. If she was wrong what would those laser beams do to human flesh? Pulverize it maybe? The scientist in him becoming the better of him and he wanted to say something else when Hope interrupted him.

“Oh she’s not wrong.” The girl sighted out loud. Relieved that this was not the case. “It’s not trying to kill us.”

The air filled with white particles. Like fireflies, these particles floated through the air, shimmering in a whitish light. Gabriel pointed out that these particles will move in response to motion. So if this thing comes close enough they will see it. “I have a target.” The spy realized, now determined that she can shoot it. But first they have to set a trap so this thing will actually move. “Follow me.” Echo went ahead and the others followed her through the dark forest.

The three of them crouched down behind a dead tree trunk. Echo had her gun at the ready, her eyes looking through the visor. Seeing something moving ahead of her, but still too far away for a clear shot. “Here it comes. No one moves or it won’t come close enough.” She commanded.

The spy was startled by the voice of Roan, momentarily forgetting to not move herself. “You just said don’t move.” Gabriel remarked sarcastically. Now Echo turned around, seeing the dead prince of Azgeda in front of her. “Roan?” This can’t be possible. He is dead. How the hell could he stand in front of her.

“You didn’t use the anti-toxin.” Gabriel breathed out, now realizing that before he could give his companions the oxygen mask they were getting attacked by this thing. “Echo it’s not real.” He tried to talk to the sensible side of the woman, but she could only hear Roan. Roan who made accusations against her.

“Shut up.” She didn’t want to hear any of these things and especially not from Roan’s ghost. Gabriel now tried to quiet her down. “Now he is in my shot.” Echo got frustrated, looking through the visor and seeing him again. And yet another attempted from Gabriel to shut her up. Suddenly Echo, her former friend who she had to kill and stole her name, stepped out from behind Roan. The old guilt hitting Echo all at once, hard. 

“Echo. Echo it’s close.” The man next to her tried to get her attention and pulling her out from her hallucinations. 

“I can do this.” She breathed out, looking down, still feeling the guilt she thought she had left in the past. She had to concentrate, there is no other way around it. She has to hide her guilt and focus on the task.

Meanwhile Hope had her own ghosts to face, her aunty O appearing in front of her. Telling her to stay quiet like all these years back. Not understanding what was going on, but feeling a strong emotion within her, Hope began to break down and cried. “No no no.” before Gabriel could pull her back to not give away they cover.

Gabriel saw the particles move in front of them, indicating that the thing has gotten close enough. He told Echo to shoot, no matter what else she saw in front of her, she had to shoot. “I’m sorry.” She bit out with tears in her eyes, yet another time she had to kill the girl she stole her name from.

Three figures moaned out in pain and dropped dead onto the forest floor. Now with their invisibility gone, they looked humanoid.

Gabriel crouched down, wanting to examine the thing that gave them so many problems. “Gabriel, we have to go. There could be more.” Echo really wanted to go to Bellamy as fast as possible. Before the man could do any further examination, Echo saw a movement from the corner of her eyes and shot one of the figures in the head, killing it for good now.

“Listen. The anomaly is quieter.” Gabriel voiced, letting his mind run a mile. “They’re shutting it down.” He realized. 

“What does that mean?” Hope asked with knitted eyebrows.

“That means they can control it.” The former prime answered, in awe at how someone could control the anomaly he’d be studying his whole immortal life.

“What if it means they’re taking Bellamy through and they don’t want us to follow.” Echo said, verbalizing her biggest fear.

All three of them sprinting as fast as they could, the anomaly coming nearer and nearer every second. A green light illuminating the dark forest, indicating they weren’t far away.

Now a few meters in front of the green vortex, Gabriel remembered what happened with Octavia and how her arm healed miraculously within a few seconds. “We have to go through together! We’re even seconds apart it could separate us by months!“

But it was too late. Hope was in front of them, after all she was the fasted out of the group. Echo barely could hold onto her arm as the younger girl vanished into the anomaly, taking the spy with her. Gabriel followed one second after them.


	2. Welcome to Skyring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I used to play down here as a kid. Little did I know that it was a bridge to the stars.” Hope looked at Echo, seeing her face which was shining in a yellowish-red light because of the torches. In this moment she thought that the monster from her bedtime stories wasn’t ugly like monsters should be. No. Echo was beautiful with skin that looked so soft, Hope wanted to brush her fingers over her face. The eyes weren’t that of a monster either, Echo’s eyes were warm and determined and Hope wanted to look into them some more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back :)
> 
> As I said before the first few chapters will follow 90% what happens in the show. This chapter is no exception, although I took a little more liberation to alter the dialogue and the movements of the characters. I hope you’re still interested and I promise that chapter 3-4 will have more original content!

Hope gasped when she made it to the surface. Suddenly remembering her whole life again. How she helped her aunty O with gardening, begging to be trained by her. How she climbed a tree, fell and broke her arm at the age of eight. Her mother was there in an instant, kissing her and holding her close as she cried. Then she remembered that one night the disciples came and took her mommy and her aunty O away from her, leaving her alone. She waited on the beach on that very lake for hours until the sun rose and went down again.

Behind her Echo resurfaced, shocked at the unexpected exit the anomaly had on this side.

“Welcome to Skyring.” Hope looked up to the sky, seeing the familiar ring, that surrounded the planet.

“Creative.” Echo said dryly while staring at the ring as well. She looked around her and then back to Hope, noticing that Gabriel was missing.

“I named it when I was three, what did you expect?” The younger girl countered back, feeling mocked by the spy, who dared to comment on the name of her home.

“Where is Gabriel?” Hope turned around at the older girl’s question and pressed her lips together.

“He should arrive in a few weeks. Now come on.” She ordered. Then she turned around and swam away, leaving a stunned Echo behind.

After a few seconds Echo regained her composure again and swam after her. She tried to catch up with the shorter girl, but even in the water Hope was faster than her. “What do you mean in a few weeks?!”

When Hope arrived at the shore, she started to run. Sprinting with the rest of the energy she still had inside her. She knew what to do. Jump to Bardo to get to her mother. This Anders guy promised her that if she tagged Octavia, he would let her mother live. So Hope sprinted into the direction of the cabin.

“Hope slow down! Where are you going?” The spy was out of breath. She had to admit it to herself that Hope had more stamina than any other person she knew. The fact that she was strong, fast and had a great endurance made the younger girl interesting for her. The grounder frowned at her thoughts, shaking her head to get rid of them.

Hope stopped in front of a cabin, not even 200 yards away from the shore they had landed on. The cabin was made out of wood, its roof covered in moss. In front of the cabin was a wooden archway and a stony path that covered the way through the front door. It had a garden, that was covered in weeds and other plants. Indicating that nobody was tending to it for a few years now.

“What is this place? Did you live here?” Echo asked out of breath, relieved that the younger girl stopped so she could catch her breath.

“Octavia said you were smart.” Hope turned around with a mocking smile on her face. Her aunty O told her everything about earth, the ark, what she had to endure and of course about Echo. The girl that stabbed her and threw her off a cliff.

For a moment Echo was dumbstruck. This girl was seriously something else. She could beat Echo in battle and made her speechless with sarcasm. Never had the grounder met someone like Hope and this intrigued her.

The younger girl saw the flabbergasted look on Echo’s face and gave herself a mental high five. She grew up with stories of Echo as a monster. The merciless and ruthless spy of the ice nation, who has no hesitation to betray her friends and kill them. Now that Hope saw her in person and how she stood there in front of her with this look on her face? The shorter girl found it amusing to say the least.

Hope turned around and entered the cabin, leaving Echo behind who regained her composure again and followed her.

Inside the cabin the younger girl instantly started to search for something. She turned a little wooden bench around and glided her hand on the underside, feeling for the object she was searching for. But it wasn’t there. “Where is it?” The distress in her voice made Echo frown for a moment when Hope threw other wooden furniture on the floor. 

The grounder looked around and her eye caught Hope’s name and age which were written on a doorframe, showing how tall she was at which age. She brushed her hand over the white paint ‘3 years, Hope’ and looked up again when she saw that Hope went into another room to continue her search.

Then Echo saw a white doll with red paint on it. She picked it up and examined the doll in her hands. Its hair was made from real human hair and when she stared into its black eyes, she thought that this wasn’t something a child should play with. “Interesting taste in toys.” She muttered and turned around when Hope appeared again.

“That’s not mine.” The younger girl answered while searching the other side of the living room.

“Is this your house or isn’t it?” Echo was confused. Hope said this cabin was her home, it has Hope’s growth chart written on a door frame, but this doll wasn’t hers? Something didn’t add up and Echo wants an explanation.

“I was with you in Sanctum for what?” Searching the shelves and the various object on them. “A day? She smiled when the object she had in her hand contain the thing she was searching for. “Given the time difference I haven’t been here for hundreds of years.”

“Enough!” Echo yelled. She was frustrated not only with this situation but with the hectic pacing and searching of the other girl. “I need answers starting with what the hell is going on?!” She took several steps forward and was now standing next to the younger girl.

Hope straightened herself and turned to Echo who had invaded her personal space, demanding answers. The younger girl looking her in the eyes, not faltering “Once they got here, they used the bridge to get to the next stop. I believe you call it the anomaly?”

“Who are they and where did they take Bellamy?” Echo didn’t falter either and stared in these pairs of challenging brown eyes.

“The disciples. They took him to Bardo. Where my mother and aunty O are too.” Hope flared her nostrils and bared her teeth. “Anders said if I tagged Octavia he would let my mother live.” She let her gaze drop, squeezing the object she had searched for inside her palm. Looking up again into the eyes of the spy she answered calmly. “Now I’m gonna go to Bardo and make sure he kept his word.” Then she got passed Echo.

“Hey.” Hope turned around when she heard the voice of the taller girl. “You traded Diyoza’s life for Octavia’s.” It wasn’t a question. It was a statement.

Somehow Echo was upset with Hope and this made Hope upset as well. She didn’t know why. It was strange because they had only known each other for a day and Echo had already that effect on her. Hope wanted to explain herself, although she didn’t owe the spy anything. “No. I was not trying to kill her.” She frowned and shook her head. “I told you, it was a locator tag.” Staring in those brown eyes again. Eyes that were upset, pitiful, warm and distrustful all at once. “I didn’t had a choice. She understood.” Hope nodded again to emphasize her point.

“She understood?” Echo challenged her again, finally able to get something useful out of the girl that was otherwise sarcastic and cold.

“Yes! My mother, my responsibly.” Hope said fiercely, repeating the words her aunty O said all these years back. Well not exactly these words, she altered them a little to fit herself.

Echo was taken aback by this, remembering Bellamy again and his need for being responsible for his sister. Now this stranger stood before her, using the exact same phrase. Although she broke up with him not long after they landed on Sanctum, she still considered Bellamy her family. And this stranger, Hope, was Octavia’s family, which made her her family too. “How do we get there? Where is the next anomaly?” She looked at the younger girl with determination in her eyes, now willing to trust her.

“You’re standing on it.” Hope said sarcastically and waited for the other girl to step back. Echo looked down and saw an old rug on the wooden floor, then she looked up again while backing away from Hope.

Hope didn’t lose any time when and pulled the rug away to reveal a metal trapdoor with a bird logo on it. She inserted the key into it and it made a clicking noise, indicating that the lock was now unlocked. Hope grunted when she pulled the door open, all while Echo observed her with interest.

“Now come on or you can wait for Gabriel here.” The younger girl vanished into the opening in the floor, down the ladder.

Echo huffed at that but followed quickly. She turned around and saw that Hope had already lit a torch so it illuminated the dark room under the cabin. One torch after the other was lit by the younger girl flooding the underground with light. Inside was another anomaly stone and the wall next to it was covered in symbols that decorated the stone as well.

“I used to play down here as a kid. Little did I know that it was a bridge to the stars.” Hope looked at Echo, seeing her face which was shining in a yellowish-red light because of the torches. In this moment she thought that the monster from her bedtime stories wasn’t ugly like monsters should be. No. Echo was beautiful with skin that looked so soft, Hope wanted to brush her fingers over her face. The eyes weren’t that of a monster either, Echo’s eyes were warm and determined and Hope wanted to look into them some more.

“So how do we get to Bardo.” Echo asked softly, noticing that something shifted between them. Hope wasn’t cold to her anymore. She was still somewhat reserved but at least she gave the spy straight answers instead of mocking her when she opened her mouth.

Hope cleared her throat, pulling herself out of her strange fascination for the other girl “We trust Bellamy.” She pulled the little note that was stuck in her arm out of the pocket of her jacket. After all it did had a code on the back, she could use to open the bridge.

When Hope opened it and saw that it wasn’t there anymore her heart clenched. “The code. It’s washed away.” In this moment Hope felt sadness, devastation and anger all at once. “We’re not going anywhere.” She breathed out in between her teeth, showing the now blank note to Echo. 

“There has to be another way.” The spy voiced out, turning around and going up the ladder in an instant. Echo left the cabin, determined to find another way off this planet to get to Bellamy.

Hope knew exactly what the other girl wanted to do. Of course she wanted to swim to the other anomaly down the lake, as if Octavia hadn’t tried it before her. The shorter girl went through the open door and called out “Trust me when I tell you it is too deep. The dive will kill you.”

Echo turned around, annoyance showing on her face “How long did you expect us to stay?” She was fed up with this whole situation. Feeling helpless and not doing anything made the grounder restless.

“What is it about Bellamy that has otherwise sensible women willing to die for him?” Hope couldn’t understand why this man had such an important role in their lives. Octavia and Echo would do anything for him and she couldn’t figure out why this was the case when he abondend them, especially Octavia.

Echo clenched her teeth together and turned around, she didn’t want to discuss her relationship to Bellamy with Hope, from all people. Well they were the only people on this godforsaken planet, but still, she didn’t want to nor had the desire to do so. So Echo turned around again, not willing to continue this conversation. She needed to go back to Sanctum, find the others and tell them what happened. Maybe Raven could come up with a solution. Raven was a genius and her sister, she would figure it out somehow.

“Octavia tried for six years to get back to her brother.” At this the taller girl stopped dead in her tracks, not believing that the fearless and strong Blodreiner tried so long and didn’t succeed. Echo turned around, a shocked expression on her face.

“You were here for six years?” The grounder couldn’t believe that Hope spent six years on this planet, a planet she’d rather leave than to live on. She didn’t know what it was, this planet didn’t feel right for her. Maybe it was because it stood in the way to get to Bellamy.

“I was here for twenty years.” Hope took several steps forward, emphasizing the twenty while doing so. “She was here for ten, six of them spent trying to reach the pretty light at the bottom of the lake.”

Echo stared blankly not believing what she heard, not believing what the younger girl just told her. If Octavia gave up, she sure as hell wouldn’t make it. That was it, she was stuck here. Forever.

Xxxxx

Back inside the cabin, Hope sat down on one of the chairs at the table. She held her head in her hands, trying to calm herself. If they waited a few more weeks, Gabriel should arrive and maybe he had a solution. After all he knew a lot about the bridge and its codes. So she only had to wait. That’s what Hope was good at, being patient.

“Tell me the truth. Did you know they would take Bellamy too?” Echo stood next to Hope, hovering over her.

“No of course not.” The younger girl stood up, titling her head. “Octavia loves him.” She said with determination, holding the spy’s stare, daring her to tell her she lied. Hope would never do something like that. She would never hurt her aunty O. Never. “I made a deal to save my mother. The plan was for me to jump back in, rescue her and aunty O and kill anyone who got in my way.”

“Oh. So you’re a killer, are you?” Echo said sarcastically. She couldn’t imagine this girl killing anyone. “You got training I’ll give you that, but you’re no killer. Don’t worry. I’m here now and if they have Bellamy, then kill them all sounds about right.”

Hope looked at her with the same fascination she had when they were underground. This weird fascination she couldn’t wrap her mind around. One minute she despises her and the in the next she wants to listen to her voice until the sun goes down. This weird hate-love thing she felt, confused Hope to no end.

Echo made her way passed Hope and rested her hands on the fireplace. She frowned because neither her nor Hope had the time to start a fire. “It’s warm.” The spy turned around to the younger girl, who had her hands rested on her hip but after hearing the concern in Echo’s voice she dropped them to her sides again.

Hope looked at Echo, who took a stick and crouched down. The older girl dug into the ashes, revealing sparks. Indicating that a fire was ignited there not long ago. “There is someone here.” She whipped her head around and caught the interested gaze of Hope. Then Echo looked around hastily. “Bellamy?” She was determined he was there, it could only be him. She thought all hope was lost, all their options ended in a dead end. But now? Now this could be a hot trace. The universe wasn’t cruel to her after all, she thought.

“I told you, he is not here.” There was it again, the sensible woman turned foolish. Hope was sick and tired of that behavior and shook her head.

By now Echo made her way to the old curtain that separated the bedroom from the living room. She stretched her hand out and was just about to pull it aside when a man came out behind it, yelling. “Get out of my house!” He lashed out, trying to slash Echo with his dagger.

The spy could overthrow him however and unarmed the man quickly before he could stab her. Holding the dagger to his throat, she looked down on his right forearm. There she could see numbers which counted down ’05:02:11:15:00:01’

The man rambled something to the creepy doll, calling it Hope, at which the real Hope only frowned. Then it dawned on her. The man must have seen her name on the growth chart and to not get totally insane, he crafted the doll and named it Hope. As quickly as the man appeared, he vanished again, running out the door of the cabin into the forest. 

“The numbers on his arm are counting down.”

“That’s how long he’s a prisoner here.” Hope saw the confused look on Echo’s face, but for her this was relatively good news. They had a ticket off this planet now. “Five years. That is how long I expect us to stay.” She gritted her teeth, because now she had to wait another five years until she could see her mom and aunty O again.

They made their way outside again, wanting to follow their only ticket off this godforsaken planet. Hope explained Echo what Skyring really was. That it was a planet for prisoners of Bardo, they get sent here to atone for their sins. Living here for a few years in complete isolation as their punishment.

When Hope passed the garden with Echo hot on her heels, she observed it. The man didn’t sow anything. “This garden is one of his. We have to start planting soon if we wanna harvest before winter. Come on.” 

The younger girl disappeared into the woods. Leaving Echo behind, who thought she didn’t hear it right. They were stuck five long years on this planet? Echo couldn’t grasp her new reality, she didn’t want to or else it would become real. “Slow down!” She ran after Hope, blocking her way. “What are you talking about?”

“From the looks of our new friend, he’s surviving on jellies alone. Eating like that, he won’t make it five years.” The shorter girl passed Echo. “And we need him to.” This crazy man was their ticket, her ticket, to get to her mom and her aunty O. She would make sure he survives these five years, even if she had to chain and force feed him.

“If the numbers on his arm hits zero, the disciples come for him to take him back to Bardo. We need him to get off this planet.”

“So the disciples will take us with them?”

“Of course not.” Hope chuckled, thinking how naïve Echo was. “We kill them. Take their suits. Jump to Bardo.” This mantra Hope did repeat in her head many times now, to calm herself.

“There she goes talking about killing again.” Echo mocked her. Hope wasn’t capable of killing, she is just a girl. A girl that caught her attention pretty fast. Her skills were extraordinary. Stamina, strength and cleverness. Beside that she is pleasing to the eye, that much Echo had to admit to herself.

At that Hope whipped around, fed up with Echo’s mocking comments. This comment in particular hit a nerve. She had to think back to Dev and how she hesitated that very night. “What is the matter? Are you afraid?” Echo remained silent, seeing that it wasn’t any use to argue back.

The duo remained silent the rest of the way, the rustling of the leaves and the chirping of bugs was the only sound on this planet, it seemed. Hope’s eyes caught a trace, so she crouched down and touched it with her hand, examining it. “He is close.” She stood up again, gaze focused into the direction of her target. Hope strode forward with a determination she hadn’t had in a long time.

“Who taught you how to track?” Echo was seemingly surprised by the girl. The more she spent time with her, the more the girl impressed her and Echo was hard to impress.

The shorter girl didn’t so much as look at the grounder, instead she kept her focus ahead of her. “The girl you stabbed and kicked over a cliff.” Her aunty O did tell her about this when she was seven and Hope immediately feared the spy. From this point on, Echo was the monster of her bedtime stories. Now that she was an adult, she finally faced the monster from her childhood and had to admit, her aunty O did exaggerate a little bit. Echo wasn’t ugly nor scary, not like a child would picture a monster to be like.

“It’s a little more complicated than that.” Echo knew that Octavia must have told Hope about this. But it wasn’t all black and white and surely Octavia did leave out a lot of details, important once too. 

The corner of Hope’s mouth went upwards into a little smile. She was old enough to know that things aren’t always easy nor pretty. She held back a snarky remark, instead she kept going and continued to focus on the task ahead. Find the prisoner an capture him. “He went through here.”

When they found the prisoner, he sat on the ground and played chess. He was surrounded by decaying bodies he must have dug up to keep him company. When he saw the two girls approaching, he vanished further into the woods and Echo wanted to go after him but stopped herself as she saw that Hope wasn’t following her. The shorter girl was crouched down, inspecting one of the bodies and whispering something Echo couldn’t make out. 

That was their best chance to capture him. Who knows where he will go now? This planet wasn’t small either, so he could be anywhere. They only had five years to get him back, that is if he didn’t die before or his tracker would turn itself off to indicate the disciples that they wouldn’t have to come and get him anymore.

But Echo said nothing, she saw the sad expression on Hope’s face, indicating that she must have known him. When Hope stood up again, she sniffed and wiped a stray tear away, all while her back was facing Echo. “Let’s go back to the cabin.” Without a second glance she made her way through the woods again, not in the mood to talk to the grounder and Echo sensed it so she left the girl alone.

When they were at the cabin for the third time, Echo let out a sigh of frustration. This would be her view for five more years so she willed herself to get used to it. She followed Hope to the front door when the girl suddenly stopped. “The guy out there. He is gonna come home. Unless we want to end up as guests at his picnic I think-“

“I’ll take the first watch.” Echo interrupted her, knowing damn well what this man was capable off. A madman who was out of his mind and dug up the dead to have company instead of seeking the company of real breathing humans? He definitely would come back to kill them in their sleep.

“Yeah.” Hope breathed out, hand on the doorframe. She watched as Echo made her way through the garden again, then coming to a halt to stand there with her arms crossed.

Once Hope was inside, she busied herself with cleaning up. She put the objects back where there belonged. This man had messed up her home until she didn’t recognize it anymore. So Hope decorated the cabin like it used to be, back when she lived here with her mommy, aunty O and Dev. Dev who she had to see at the picnic of the dead.

Echo stood there for a few minutes. She had finally time to breathe and come clean with her emotions. The grounder closed her eyes and thought back to the moment everything went downhill. The moment the disciples took her ex-boyfriend. The moment she broke the surface of the lake. The moment she got told she had to spent five years on this planet. Echo took a deep breath and released it again, steeling herself for the next five years to come. She would make it, there was no other way. So Echo swallowed all her frustration until the only thing she felt was determination.

Out of boredom she wandered through the overgrown garden. She picked a blue flower and looked up at the sky. Seeing the ring, that gave the planet its name. She thought of what a three year old Hope must’ve looked like when she came up with the name. How the little girl looked at the same ring, smile on her face and in her eyes, because she came up with the perfect name. Echo’s gaze went down again and her attention went to an object stuck inside the ground. She made her way to it and dug it out, realizing that it was a bottle which contained a paper.

Echo opened the lid and pulled the paper out. She unfolded it and began to read, immediately noticing that this letter was from Octavia to her brother Bellamy. Echo was so absorbed by reading the letter, that she didn’t hear the cabin door open nor the fast and angry steps that made their way to her. 

Hope snatched the letter out of her hands. “Where did you get that?”

“I found it here.” Echo thought she swallowed all her emotions, but the letter she dug up, dug her emotions up with it.

“That was not meant for you. It’s my watch.” With that Hope turned around, not willing to talk to the other girl again. She had to relive too much today. The realization that she had to wait another five years, after already waiting ten. The sight of her dead surrogated father was only the cherry on top.

“Stay alert Hope. He could come back at any time.” Echo was frustrated again, not because of the situation she was in, no she pretty much came to terms with it. She was frustrated with herself, because she felt how her emotions threatened to break through the surface again. So the grounder stormed off into the cabin, leaving the younger girl alone.

Echo looked out the window and saw Hope, who had her back to her again, shake. At this the grounder thought back to the ring and how she learned that showing emotions wasn’t a bad thing. Her spacekru family helped her through so much pain and grief by just being there for her. So Echo made up her mind to be there for the younger girl too.

Hope’s chin began to wobble and her eyes burned, an indication she was about to break. She didn’t have anyone right now, she was totally alone, so Echo wanted to be there for her. When Hope noticed that the grounder came back, she began to speak. “I remembered when she threw this into the bridge. We still thought Sanctum was on the other side.” Now Hope’s tears began to flow freely and she wiped them away with her hand. “It must have been how they knew we were here.” She choked out.

That was it. Hope sobbed and let her tears fall, not even caring that Echo saw or heard her. Echo’s heart clenched while seeing the other girl struggle like that, so she did the only thing that came up in her mind. Comfort.

“Hey” Echo put her hand on Hope’s shoulder as a gesture of comfort, to let the other girl know she was there, but she shrugged it off violently. The grounder wasn’t about to give up, so she went to pull her into a hug, if Hope wanted it or not, because she sure needed it. “Come here. Come here.” Hope let herself be pulled into Echo’s embrace willingly and the grounder held her tight while she cried and sobbed, hugging Echo back just as tightly.

“We’ll get them back together, whatever it takes. We’ll get them all back.” The taller girl was determined more than ever. She felt how Hope nodded her head against her shoulder and hugged her a little bit tighter. Feeling the warmth of the other girl seeping into herself. It wasn’t only her comforting Hope, no, Hope comforted her too.

They hugged for ten minutes, never loosening the embrace. Both girls needed it, were desperate for comfort and yearned for human contact. So they both stayed like that, feeling how their heartbeats calmed and soon beat in synch. Echo felt how Hope’s breathing slowed down, indicating that she was done crying. In this moment Echo didn’t want to be anywhere but here. Just here in this embrace, the little bubble of comfort they had built.


	3. We have the same goal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hope chuckled and shook her head, while working with the rake to loosen up the soil and remove any stones that were stuck in it. “Well.” She stopped what she was doing and wiped the sweat off her forehead. “If we want to eat, we have to plant.”
> 
> Echo grunted at that because of course she would pull her own weight, but that didn’t mean she would enjoy it. Especially gardening, a task that required somewhat of a delicacy. Why did plants have to be so sensitive? You don’t give them water they die. You don’t give them nutrition they die. You neglect them for a few days, guess what? They die. That’s why she hated gardening, it was just too much commitment for her liking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey and welcome back :)  
> Apologies for the long wait! I didn’t have the motivation to write these passed few days, but thanks to my sisterkru I have found it again ^-^  
> Enjoy!

Echo was a warrior and a spy. She was one of the best fighters the Ice Queen had in her army and she served her well. The grounder was good in gathering information from the enemy without them knowing. She could memorize a battle map in the split of a second and copy it to deliver it to her Queen. If she was being tortured, she would keep her mouth shut, never admitting her tie to azgeda or Nia. Echo would often let her killings look like an accident, silently creeping inside tents and assassinating her targets.

These qualities were what made her the woman Echo is today. A woman with no fears. Or that what she told herself back then, because the time she had spent with the Skai people up on the ring, changed her. She learned to love, grief and to be happy. For that she was immensely grateful. Grateful that she got to be Bellamy’s girlfriend. He showed her what love really was and that it wasn’t weakness. But their relationship ended when they touched the ground on Sanctum. It seemed like Echo had changed too much. 

She had changed throughout her life. Echo wasn’t the fearful little girl named Ash anymore. Echo wasn’t the angry teenager, who wanted to get the attention and praise from her Queen. She wasn’t the loyal soldier of her clan anymore and she no longer was Bellamy’s girlfriend. Now Echo was just Echo. A woman who had stranded on a planet with a ring up in the sky and jellyfish in the lake.

She reached for the garden fork that laid on the ground to her left and took a swing, bringing it down to the ground with such force as if she would kill her most hated enemy. Hope secretly looked on in amusement as the spy grunted in annoyance. The two of them arrived two days ago and agreed to work together to rescue their friends and family. 

“This is ridiculous. I’m a spy not a farmer.” The older woman huffed out and grunted when she pulled out an unwanted weed. The whole garden was covered in weeds and to plant they had to get rid of them.

Hope chuckled and shook her head, while working with the rake to loosen up the soil and remove any stones that were stuck in it. “Well.” She stopped what she was doing and wiped the sweat off her forehead. “If we want to eat, we have to plant.”

Echo grunted at that because of course she would pull her own weight, but that didn’t mean she would enjoy it. Especially gardening, a task that required somewhat of a delicacy. Why did plants have to be so sensitive? You don’t give them water they die. You don’t give them nutrition they die. You neglect them for a few days, guess what? They die. That’s why she hated gardening, it was just too much commitment for her liking.

Both of them worked on in silence when Echo caught movement out of the corner of her eye. It was the man again. He hid behind a bush and watched the two women work. Echo pretended she didn’t see him and spoke in a low voice. “Don’t look and continue working.” 

Hope stilled her movements and looked at the women across from her with a raised eyebrow in question. She pressed her lips together when she didn’t receive an explanation she got back to her task. “Ok.”

Echo breathed out, taking that as her cue to continue. “Our friend is behind a bush to your right, he watches us.” She noticed how Hope gripped the handle of her rake harder, her knuckles turning white, tensing for a moment before she relaxed again. “Don’t look into his direction and pretend you don’t know.”

The younger woman did as she was told. They talked about this yesterday, how to handle the situation. Hope told her about Dev and that he too was a prisoner who soon became her father and trained her. She told Echo all about the hierarchy of the disciples and what the symbols mean and that this man had twelve of them. Their best chance to get to Bardo was to turn him. To achieve that they had to show him that they were better company than the dead bodies he surrounded himself with. So the women didn’t chase him anymore, he had to come to them. Of course they kept watch every night and were on high alert throughout the day.

“That’s a good sign, he will want to join us soon.” Hope smiled, because they were one step closer at getting their family back. A tiny step sure, but a step nonetheless.

They managed to free the garden of all weeds within the next five days. Hope showed Echo how to sow the seeds correctly. The taller woman repeated what she was taught while Hope looked over her shoulder and giving her praise for her work. Echo was never praised for the things she had done. Not from Nia and not even from her spacefamily. When she heard Hope say “Good job.” and “Yes perfect, just like that.” she blushed and noticed a weird feeling in her stomach.

The feeling wasn’t weird in a bad way, she experienced that before with Bellamy, but never at that high of intensity. Still, Echo was in denial of her growing feelings for Hope and she willed herself to not fall deeper. She had to focus on what she came here to do and Hope would only distract her. And even if she allowed herself to feel for the younger woman, who said Hope felt the same?

“Where are all the animals?” Echo asked with confusion in her voice, when the two of them collected mushrooms and berries from the forest. Being here for a week and not seeing or hearing any other animals but insects unsettled the spy somewhat.

“There aren’t any around. Only bugs and Jellyfishes.” Hope picked berries from a bush, carefully putting them in her basket to not damage their delicate skin. The women only ate mushrooms and berries they found in the time there were here. “I wanted to fish for some jellyfishes for a few days now but we were so caught up in preparing the garden...” She trailed off while she inspected a mushroom, which grew at the foot of a tree. Examining it if it was safe to eat or not and when she was sure it was edible, she picked it and put it into the now half full basket.

Echo chuckled “So you’ve never tasted meat?” When the realization dawned on her, her expression changed. Echo’s eyebrows rose up, then knitted together in frustration. “I survived the ring and Monty’s algae. Six years of not eating any meat, to strand on this planet that doesn’t have any animals?” She was a little bit upset at the fact she had to give up on meat for another five years.

The other woman glanced at Echo and laughed. “I will make you my mother’s famous jellyfish etouffee. I’m sure you’ll love it.” She grinned and at that Echo had to smile.

The grounder didn’t know when exactly they started to get along so well, but she enjoyed it a lot and didn’t want it to end. And she had the feeling that Hope didn’t either. It must be the constant proximity and their working together that made them somewhat close, add in the threat of the man in the woods and you get a friendship in under a weak.

“I’ve never had Jellyfish before, but I like to try new things.” She was intrigued to taste it, after all Hope did eat it all her life, so why not?

“That’s settled then!” The younger woman clapped her hands together and stood up. She was giddy to cook for the grounder. Hope didn’t know why she felt like that. A feeling she couldn’t put her finger on it. When she saw Echo smile her guts made backflips and when she heard her laugh, she thought she had never heard such a beautiful melody. It was weird, considering that Echo was the monster which with her mother and aunty O threatened her if she didn’t behave. But now she wasn’t the little girl anymore that was afraid, she was a woman who took a strange interest in her.

Both of them went back to the cabin to put their baskets away and to get the fishing nets. Hope would show Echo how to fish for them, so Hope thought why not get ready inside the cabin. She wasted no time and started to undress. First she took off her boots and threw them in the corner. Echo turned around at the sound and when she saw that Hope was already removing her shirt, her mouth formed a silent O. The spy’s eyes roamed over the exposed skin of the younger woman and she only snapped out of her trance when she heard Hope huff out in annoyance. 

“I’m stuck, um, could you maybe help me?” At that Echo regained her composure again and moved out of her frozen state. She stepped in front of Hope and helped her out of her shirt.

“Thanks.” The shorter woman breathed out, her hair was tousled and cheeks red from blushing. Suddenly she noticed how close they were and that Hope’s hot breath touched her lips. The close proximity made her heart beat increase and the palm of her hands sweat. Echo knew what those symptoms were, but she wasn’t ready to address them. Not yet anyways.

It was a stupid idea and to just think about how she so desperately wanted to kiss the woman in front of her, was ridiculous. So why can’t she stop herself from thinking those thoughts? Training as an aszgedan spy and serving in the royal guard of the queen made her a disciplined soldier. No matter what worried her mind, she could always push it aside to focus on her next mission. So why couldn’t she do this now? Her mind was not focused at all lately, it was mostly occupied by a woman named Hope.

Echo had bed many women before when she was on missions or back home, but she never met a woman who was so appealing to her as Hope was. Not only appealing for the eye but also her personality made Hope interesting for the grounder. Hope was an ambitious, smart and a joyful person, who had many hidden talents Echo wanted to discover. 

The taller woman was pulled out of her thoughts when she saw how Hope looked down to her lips and back up into her eyes again. This action made Echo wonder if the other woman felt the same and when she saw how dark her hazel eyes became, Echo had her answer. Yes, Hope wanted her the same way as Echo wanted Hope.

The spy cleared her throat, turning away from the other woman and moved to the other end of the cabin. She took the nets out of one of the boxes that were piled up next to the kitchen counter. “Let’s go fishing.” She held the nets in her hands and made her way outside, leaving Hope alone. 

Echo wasn’t ready yet and she didn’t want to cause Hope any trouble. The younger woman didn’t have any chance to meet other potential partners and Echo thought it wasn’t fair of her to take that away from Hope.

Both women stood at the beach in only their underwear and a net in their hands. The sky was clear of any clouds and the sun shone down on them, warming their exposed skin. A mild breeze blew on Echo’s face and her long brunette hair waved in response. She closed her eyes, steeling herself for the hours to come. The grounder had to control herself and not give in to her feelings. Unspoken feelings that hung between them, making both women unsure of what to do exactly.

“The jellyfishes are at the middle of the lake. They float around, typically in a group, so it’s easy to catch two or three at the same time.” Hope adjusted the net in her hands and gazed at the spy, who nodded in response.

Soon Echo and Hope swam to the middle of the lake. It was the same spot they had resurfaced when they came through the anomaly. Hope turned around, breathing in and submerged into the water. Echo followed suit and kept the distance between them as small as possible. She saw how skilled Hope spread the net and caught two jellyfishes. As soon as Hope secured the net, she swam up and left Echo alone again.

Now it was Echo’s turn to spread the net. The spy had already chosen a jellyfish she wanted to catch. She did the same as Hope did. Just as she tried to net it, it floated away, leaving the net completely empty. At that the spy breathed out in frustration and the air bubbles moved upwards, away from her. But Echo wasn’t the kind of person that gave up that easily so she dived deeper, hunting her prey and totally forgetting that she should rather stay close to the surface.

Hope took a deep breathe when she emerged and wiped the wet hair away from her face. She gripped her full net tight in her left hand and closed her eyes. Her wet skin glistered in the afternoon sun and she enjoyed the moment. After a few more seconds she opened them again and frowned. Echo should emerge by now but was nowhere to be seen. The young woman took a deep breath and dived into the water again. Hope opened her eyes underwater and looked around. When she saw that the older woman was too deep down, Hope resurfaced again to take a deep breath before submerged again.

Hope released her net and swam into the direction of Echo, who was not even near the middle of the lake. The grounder released the rest of air she had inside her lungs. She tried to swim as fast as she could but she knew she wouldn’t make it in time. Why was Echo so careless? What did she want to prove? Echo knew the answers, she wanted to show Hope that she could do it too.

She was a spy, but just like on the ring she was of no use here. Who needed a spy on a planet with only three inhabitants? Nobody. This made her useless once again and Echo hated it.

Before Echo’s survival instincts kicked in, to suck in water instead of air, Hope reached for her arm and pulled her against herself. The shorter woman wasted no time and pressed her lips against Echo’s to share her breath with the grounder. Echo’s eyes widened, but she excepted the oxygen and both women swam to the surface.

When Echo made it to the beach, she took her clothes and boots and ran off. The shame and guilt she felt made her feel stupid and she didn’t want to break down in front of the other woman. “Echo, wait.” But Echo kept going, she needed to be alone right now and Hope knew it so she didn’t make an attempt to go after her.

When she found a spot near a clearing, she dumbed her things and fell to her knees. She cried in frustration and in anger. She cried for her friends and family. Echo held her hand against her mouth to muffle her sobs, although nobody was there to see or hear her. In this moment she felt helpless and useless. Once again, she didn’t bring anything valuable to the table, not in this moment. She made it worse and had to be rescued by Hope, who risked her own life to save her.

Hope waited for three hours inside the cabin for Echo. She figured that the older woman wanted to be left alone, so she gave her the space she needed. Why did Echo react like that? Hope didn’t know. She told herself to not ask or bother Echo with her questions, so when the grounder came inside, she offered her a bowl with mushroom soup and both ate in silence.

After they had eaten, Hope cleared the table and rinsed their bowls out, all while thinking what to do. How could she confront Echo without upsetting her further? At this moment she wished that she had known more people in her life to have a little more experience on how to handle situations like this. Then she remembered how Echo hugged her a week ago, despite her protest. The hug felt so good and she didn’t feel alone anymore. It was like all her worries were being washed away. In this moment she only felt the warmth of the embrace.

Hope made up her mind to hug Echo too. When she dried the bowls and put them away, she made her way to the older woman who was now standing in front of the window. Hesitating for a few seconds, Hope stared at the back of the spy’s head and before the courage left her, she wrapped her arms around the other woman, hugging her from behind.

Echo was startled by the sudden contact and tried to free herself, but the strong arms of the hazel eyed woman kept her in place. The hair on her neck stood up in attention when she heard Hope whisper in her ear “I don’t know why you’re upset. I only know that I was scared for you.” Then she heard how Hope snuffled and she knew she was holding back tears. But why? Why did Hope care so much for the monster of her childhood? 

“Why do you even care?” It wasn’t meant to be harsh, but Echo winced at her own words as soon as they had left her mouth. She swallowed back a lump in her throat and turned around while still in the embrace. 

Hope loosened the embrace somewhat when they came face to face, but Echo made no further attempted to move away. “We have the same goal.” She breathed out dumbly. Hope wanted to tell her the truth. She wanted to tell her how she felt and that it scared her, but at the same time made her all giddy and happy. But she didn’t and instead continued. “I need you to help me rescue our family. My mom and aunty O. Bellamy, your boyfriend.” The last word left a bitter taste in her mouth and made her realize of how stupid and naïve her feelings were.

That was a good enough reason for Echo, but as soon as her ears picked up the word ‘boyfriend’ and how Hope voiced it, she titled her head. Echo saw many emotions on Hope in the short time they had knew each other now. Anger, frustration, sadness and happiness to mention a few. But this was a new one. Hope was jealous.  
“He is not my boyfriend anymore.” Echo freed herself from Hope and walked to the table. She busied herself with lightening the candle. Of course she didn’t saw the surprised look on the hazel eyed woman, but she heard it in her voice.

“Oh I…I didn’t know that…I thought…” She stumbled over her own words, too surprised to form a sentence. Her chances increased a little but she had the feeling Echo still saw her as a young and naïve little girl. Hope balled her fist to gather the courage to speak again. “So you aren’t upset I kissed you?” The younger woman thought maybe the spy was upset with her because she was still in a relationship with Bellamy.

Echo turned around, scoffed and crossed her arms “No. I was upset of how stupid I was.” She averted the gaze of Hope. The grounder shook her head and looked up again. “I’m sorry. I should thank you for saving me. So, thank you.” She nodded gratefully then she added “I will take the first watch.” Still feeling the shame, she didn’t want to continue the conversation any further. So she made her way to the other window and looked outside, scanning the garden for any sign of their friend. 

Before Hope made her way inside her room, she stopped at the doorframe. “You’re not stupid, Echo. You made a mistake and that's it. I’m glad you’re OK now.” Then she retreated and left the grounder alone with her thoughts.


	4. You've got to be kidding me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Let me have a look at that.” Hope pushed her gently down onto the chair and went behind her to examine the wound. “Good, you don’t need stiches. Let me clean it though.” Hope retrieved a clean cloth and dipped it into the barrel that was filled with water, which stood by the kitchen counter. She dapped it carefully at the wound, wiping the blood away. “There, all done.”
> 
> “Thanks.” Echo looked up at the other woman and grabbed her wrist, making her stay where she was. Hope waited for Echo to continue speaking, but she didn’t. Instead the grounder stood up and cupped her cheek. She stroked it softly “Do you feel better?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi and welcome back :)  
> This chapter is dedicated to Sara. Happy birthday, habibi! Hbk <3  
> Enjoy!

The incident at the lake was three weeks ago. Hope said that she will fish for jellyfishes from now on and Echo only nodded at that, secretly thankful that Hope didn’t ask more questions about how she and Bellamy broke up or why she was frustrated. In these three weeks, the man didn’t show up, it was like he wasn’t even there. She got restless and with Hope away, catching jellyfish, she took the opportunity to do what a spy does. Spying on the only human that could get them off this planet. Echo went back to his camping side, where the dead bodies were still sitting around, but she couldn’t find him there either. They both agreed to not approach him, to not scare him away again, but Echo couldn’t just sit still and do nothing.

Echo went back to the cabin to get the gardening tools and tend to the garden to busy herself. She enjoyed it now, somehow a calmness washed over her when she watered the crops. It was a strange contrast to her time she spent killing her enemies. The grounder would have never guessed that she would have to spent five years on a planet being a farmer. She thought back at her old life, back on earth. A life as a warrior and spy in the royal guard and it felt like it was a lifetime ago. She thought about all the moments she should have died.

The day she became Echo, Mt. Weather, Praimfaya or when she nearly became a meat sleeve for the primes. All those times she should have died, but she didn’t hesitate, because hesitation is death. Now she had five years to somewhat relax and to sort out her feelings. The only threat here was the man in the woods, but he wasn’t really that dangerous. Hope told her that, as a lv. twelve, he could easily kill them. The grounder only scoffed and said mockingly how scared she was now. No, Echo was sure she was better than him, she had more experience on the battlefield and she killed more people than she could count. If she wasn’t a spy, her back would be decorated with scars, one scar for every life she had taken. Her back would be littered with them and soon there would be no space left to continue. But as a spy she had to blend in and not let her target know that she was a seasoned killer. She wasn’t allowed to scar in honor of her best friend, to not be associated with azgeda. Echo had to sacrifice a lot of things for her clan, but she did it with honor.

Like back then she did everything to honor her family and Bellamy was still her family. She was loyal to him and she would do anything to get him back, even spending five years on this godforsaken planet. They both agreed to end the relationship, because they didn’t feel anything anymore but friendly feelings. It was funny because Echo had loved him dearly, he was the first she had cared for so deeply and to not feel that anymore was weird and it made Echo wonder if she might be broken. 

As this thought whizzed through her mind, she shook her head. She stood up and overlooked the garden with a prideful smile on her face. When she heard footsteps, she spun around and was greeted with a beaming laugh from Hope. The younger woman held two nets full of jellyfishes up in the air and grinned. “Today we’ll eat jellyfish soup with mushrooms. I will dry the rest so we can use them on the crops, so they’ll grow faster.” 

Echo nodded and retrieved a towel, which hung over a chair at the porch. She took the nets from Hope and gave her the towel. The hazel eyed woman thanked her and started to dry herself. It got warmer every day, indicating that summer would start soon. 

The grounder was at the front door of the cabin when she heard how Hope threw up, spilling her guts content onto the floor. Echo dropped the nets and went over to her to lay a hand on her shoulder. “Hey.” At that Hope looked up into her eyes, but not a few seconds later she threw up again, this time onto Echo’s boots.

“I’m sorry.” The shorter woman said with shame in her voice while she held her stomach. She was still in her underwear and the towel hung over her shoulders.

Echo shook her head and gripped Hope’s shoulder tighter. “It’s ok.” She cupped her chin with her thumb and forefinger and guided her head upwards to meet her gaze. Hope’s eyes looked tired and she could see the shame in them. “Come on, let’s get you inside.”

Once inside the cabin, Echo let Hope sit down on a chair and retrieved a bucket so Hope could vomit into that instead of the floor. The shorter woman gripped the bucket in a vice like grip, feeling how another wave of nausea overtook her. 

When Hope was done vomiting, Echo gave her a cup of water and Hope rinsed her mouth, spitting the water into the bucket. “Thanks.” She yawned, feeling better by now but a sudden tiredness overcame her. 

“You pushed yourself too hard today.” Echo said in a soft voice and pointed at the six jellyfishes, which were still in the nets. She would make sure the younger woman rested. “You should lie down. I will prepare dinner.”

Hope did as she was told, went inside the bedroom and closed the door behind her. The two of them had time to chop wood to make a new door. It was Hope’s old room and she was grateful that her bed still stood where it used to be. They shared the bed, although they never slept in it at the same time. One of them always was awake to keep watch in case the prisoner would show up again.

The grounder sighed and flopped down onto the chair, which Hope occupied mere seconds ago. It seemed she would have to do a double shift if Hope wouldn’t feel any better. Echo was no stranger to lack of sleep, she would get through it.

When she looked down, she saw the bucket in front of her boots. Both were covered in Hope’s vomit and she wiped her nose. Echo had seen and was covered in much worse and nastier things, a little vomit was nothing to her. She picked the bucket up and went outside. The grounder went to the lake and washed the bucket and her boots. When she went back to the cabin the door was wide open and she frowned at that.

“Hope, I said you should-“ Echo stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the man standing in the middle of the cabin. When he turned around, she could see the twelve symbols that decorated his face. Hope told her how that made him a dangerous threat and even more so in his lunatic condition. “Let’s see if this is true.” She whispered to herself and got into a fighting stance, making herself ready if the man decided to attack, but he just stood there.

“I came back to get Hope.” His voice cracked due to not using it in a long time and when Echo didn’t respond he knitted his eyebrows in anger. “Where is Hope!” He yelled, demanding his doll. The man turned around and went to the shelves, he took a few of the vases and glasses and threw them on the floor, shattering them into tiny pieces. 

Echo’s nostrils flared in anger, she grabbed him by his shoulder and jerked him back to face her. “Listen! Ooof-“ He shoved her hard and she fell backwards, landing on the floor with a thud. The back of her head hit the wooden floor hard. Echo winced but stood up quickly, grabbing the knife that was on the kitchen counter. When she was about to attack him, she saw how Hope opened the door. 

“Echo don’t.” She said in a weak voice, touching Echo’s hand that held the knife. Without any protest she let Hope take the knife from her. “We need him.” Then Hope turned to the man, who stopped vandalizing the cabin to watch them. “You want your doll back, right?”

“I want my little Hope.” He breathed out while nodding. This man didn’t show up for over three weeks and now that he did Echo wanted to harm him? And to make it worse, maybe even get herself killed while doing so. Good that Hope stepped in to prevent that.

Hope nodded and set the knife onto the kitchen counter again, then she took a few steps forward all while holding her hands up to show him that she wasn’t a threat. “I am Hope and this is Echo.” She jerked her hand in the direction of Echo when she introduced her. “What is your name?”

“Orlando.” 

“Nice to meet you, Orlando. Your doll is in the box over there.” She pointed with her finger to the piled up boxes. Orlando wasted no time and rummaged through the box to retrieve his precious doll. When he found it he held it at eye level and whispered something to it that both women couldn’t make out. 

“Thank you.” Orlando nodded and sprinted out of the cabin.

“What were you thinking?! He could have killed you!” Echo closed her eyes at the sudden change of volume in the voice of the younger woman. Hope took several steps forward and invaded the personal space of the spy. She was furious of the carelessness the grounder showed.

“I could have handled it just fine.” She opened her eyes again and looked at Hope, right into her angry eyes. Echo touched the back of her head with her hand and winced. She brought it in front of her face and saw how it was covered in her blood. Black blood. At that Hope’s eyes turned soft, showing concern and all of the anger she had was gone.

“Let me have a look at that.” Hope pushed her gently down onto the chair and went behind her to examine the wound. “Good, you don’t need stiches. Let me clean it though.” Hope retrieved a clean cloth and dipped it into the barrel that was filled with water, which stood by the kitchen counter. She dapped it carefully at the wound, wiping the blood away. “There, all done.”

“Thanks.” Echo looked up at the other woman and grabbed her wrist, making her stay where she was. Hope waited for Echo to continue speaking, but she didn’t. Instead the grounder stood up and cupped her cheek. She stroked it softly “Do you feel better?”

The hazel eyed woman opened her mouth but no sound came out. She just dumbly looked at Echo, surprised at the sudden tenderness the spy showed. Her hand still rested on her cheek and Hope thought how good it felt. She closed her eyes, enjoying it for a few more seconds. When she opened them again, she was met with Echo’s soft brown eyes and Hope momentarily forgot how to breath. “You’re a natblida.” She said dumbly, too overwhelmed with the situation.

Echo’s hand dropped to her side and she huffed out in amusement. Seeing what kind of effect she had on the other woman made her feel powerful. Powerful in a good way. All these past few weeks they had spent together she made her peace with the feelings she had for the younger woman. Accepting them instead of pushing them away. If she was stranded on this planet for five years, why not allow herself to actually live instead of only surviving? Echo wanted to enjoy life just once in her dark and merciless life and this was her chance to do so. To make it better, Hope felt the same, so why not acting on her feelings now?

“Yeah.” She answered the obvious and the corner of her mouth went upwards into a smirk when she saw how flustered Hope got. They still stood close and Echo could hear how heavy Hope breathed in and out, indicating how excited she was. The spy wanted to enjoy the look of the younger woman a little bit longer, but Hope didn’t gave her the chance to do so. Instead she moved forward and captured her lips. Now Echo was the one who was surprised, her eyes widening for the split of a second until she regained her composure again and began to reciprocate the kiss.

She cupped the cheek of the shorter woman again, while Hope gripped her hips and pulling the grounder into herself. It was as if no space was left between them, both were one and the same now. Echo sighed into the kiss, a sudden relief washing over her. She hadn’t felt at peace in a long time. Now that she did it, she felt how her walls slowly came down and the reason was Hope Diyoza.

Hope deepened the kiss and Echo gladly gave her control over the situation. The hazel eyed woman grabbed her hips tighter when she felt how the spy’s tongue moved against her own. It felt like heaven and Hope didn’t want it to end, but eventually both of them had to break apart for air. When their lips parted, Echo leaned her forehead against Hope’s. She looked at the other woman and saw how her eyes were still closed. Both breathing heavily, trying to get as much oxygen inside their lungs after going without it for a few seconds.

When Hope opened her eyes again, Echo wasn’t met with Hope’s otherwise joyful hazel ones. Her pupils where blown and darker than usual. She was clearly aroused at the simple act of a kiss and Echo couldn’t blame her. The younger woman had no experience whatsoever and she never had bed another person in her life before, so the sheer act of kissing had that effect on her.

Echo stroked her cheek with her thumb. “You should rest.” Hope nodded and licked her lips, tasting Echo on them. The shorter woman looked disappointed but agreed to that. She still felt tired and resting sounded good. Before Hope parted from the grounder, Echo gave her a soft and short kiss and Hope smiled. She was happy that Echo finally reciprocated her feelings.

xxxx

Both sat at the table and ate what Echo cooked for them three hours later. Hope felt much better, although she couldn’t really think of a reason why she got sick out of nowhere. She pushed this thought, she had no answer to, away and just enjoyed the moment. Talking and laughing with the woman in front of her and knowing that she could finally kiss her whenever she wanted. So Hope did just that, the soup long forgotten. She stood up and went to kiss Echo hungrily. The grounder grinned into the kiss, thinking how impatient the shorter woman was. When the kiss got too heated she stopped Hope.

“We should continue this in the bedroom.” The grounder breathed out, taking Hope’s hands in hers and guiding her to their room. She closed the door behind them and pushed Hope gently down onto the bed. The grounder made quick work with taking Hope’s clothes off. She took a moment to admire the body that laid before her and was pulled out of her studying when Hope spread her legs, giving her a perfect view on her glistering pussy.

Echo’s mouth watered at this view and she lunged forward as if she was thirsty for a few days now and Hope’s pussy was a cup of water. When the spy was on top of the younger woman, she kissed her and this time it was with much more force and desire. Hope slipped her hands under Echo’s top and pulled it upwards and over her head, then Hope helped her unbuckle her pants and soon Echo was only in her underwear. When they parted again, both stared into each other’s darkened eyes.

Hope’s right hand glided over Echo’s body and rested on her hip. The shorter woman pulled her slip down and Echo kicked it off. Not a second later the grounder pulled her breastband over her head, leaving her as bare as Hope was under her. 

Echo had her hands on either sides of Hope’s head and a leg between her legs, while Hope rested both her hands on the spy’s hips. In this moment it was as if the world out there didn’t exist, they were the only humans that existed now. The taller woman bend her head down to kiss along Hope’s jawline and down her neck, making sure to suck and gently bite down on her delicate skin, leaving bruises. Smiling to herself when she heard how the woman under her moaned in pleasure. The grounder kissed her way down her body, giving Hope’s breast extra care and soon her nipples stood in attention. She took each of them into her mouth and circled her tongue around them.

Hope’s hands gripped onto Echo tighter and she jerked her hips upwards, seeking friction. Her center made contact with Echo’s leg and she moaned loudly. The spy pulled her leg away, not willing to give her what she wanted, not yet. Hope whined at the loss of contact. “Echo.” She pleaded, thinking how unfair the grounder was right now, but Echo only chuckled and went back to what she was doing.

She continued her way down Hope’s body. Kissing every inch and enjoying the moment. The moans she received from the other woman was more than enough to spurt her on. When Echo reached Hope’s center, she took a moment to admire it. How beautiful it looked and how wet she was for her. The grounder blew air against it and Hope squirmed at the cold. Then she gripped her thighs and pulled Hope to her. Echo wasted no time and went straight to her clit. When she made the first lick, Hope gripped Echo’s head. She dug her nails into her scalp and moaned. The spy tasted Hope on her tongue and it was better than she could have imagined. She ate Hope out and was rewarded with moans and screams form the other woman. Hope didn’t last long and she hit her climax after Echo sucked on her clit, all while squeezing her thighs together, trapping Echo’s head between them.

When Hope’s orgasm was over, she went limp and Echo kissed her way upwards again. When she was all the way up, she kissed the lips of the hazel eyed woman, letting her taste herself. Hope sighed into Echo’s mouth. She never felt as content as she felt right now. Echo made her feel everything all at once and it was like her body was set on fire.

Hope gazed into her eyes, a smile on either of their faces. She stroked Echo’s arm and gave her a quick peck on the lips. “That was amazing.” She breathed out and her heart skipped a beat when she saw how Echo’s smile widened. “I want to make you feel good too.” She whispered against her lips before she closed the distance yet again. Hope took the opportunity, while they kissed, to roll them over. 

Echo ‘humpfed’ against her lips in surprise, but it soon turned into a muffled moan when she felt how the right hand of Hope sneaked between her legs and cupped her wet core. Her thumb covered her clit and she began to circle it slowly. Echo spread her legs wider apart to give the younger woman more excess, so Hope took the opportunity to press her forefinger against her opening, all while she still stroked her clit. They broke the kiss and Echo rested her forehead against Hopes shoulder. She bit down on her shoulder when the younger woman slipped a finger into her. The hazel eyed woman was pumping it in and out of her all while making sure to keep the rhythm of her thumb on Echo’s clit.

Echo met each thrust of Hope’s fingers with a thrust of her hips and soon a second finger went inside her, giving her the delicious feeling of being stretched. The shorter girl picked up her pace, pressing the heel of her hand against Echo’s clit to give it the needed friction. When the walls of the spy began to squeeze around Hope’s fingers, she curled them and hit a sensitive spot. At that Echo screamed Hope’s name and her vision went black.

After a few seconds, Hope pulled her fingers out of her and brought it to her mouth. She licked her digits clean and sighed at how delicious Echo tasted on them. Meanwhile Echo’s eyes where still closed, too spent from one of the best orgasms she ever experienced. She had bed a lot of people in her life and only a few of them had managed to hit that special spot. Hope somehow did it and Echo didn’t know if it was intended or just sheer luck.

Both women soon fell asleep in each other’s arms. Echo held Hope tight and nuzzled her head into her neck. Surrounded with the scent of the younger woman she slept content and with a smile on her face.

xxxxx

Hope woke up at the sudden feeling of getting sick again. Her mouth went dry and an acidic taste made its way up her throat. She was still in Echo’s arms, who spooned her from behind, both naked from yesterday’s activities. The younger girl jumped out of the bed, waking the grounder in the process and sprinted out of the room. Echo was startled at the sudden movement and went after her.

Hope was just in time to bend over the bucket she used yesterday. She gripped it in both hands, while kneeling on the floor. A hand touched her back and another held her hair back. It was Echo who whispered reassuring things to her while Hope spit into the bucket. 

Hope couldn’t believe why she had to vomit again. If it was because of the food, then Echo would be sick too, which was not the case. Vomiting from exhaustion didn’t make much sense either because she felt rested for the first time in weeks. So why did she feel nauseous all of a sudden again? 

Just as soon as the nausea came it went away again. Hope busied herself with tending to the garden and helping prepare lunch with Echo. In between their work she would sneak kisses and touches and the spy didn’t mind these at all. 

Today marked five weeks. Five weeks they were together on this planet and still no sign of Gabriel. “He should arrive within the next few days.” Hope yawned, while stretching, hearing the satisfying pop of her bones. She was tired again, although they just woke up a few hours ago.

“You said the same thing a few days ago.” Echo raised her eyebrows and hugged the shorter woman from behind. Hope leaned back into her and rested her hands on Echo’s arms that encircled her. “Is it bad of me that I don’t want him to arrive for at least another month?” She kissed Hope’s neck and her hand went up to cup one of her breasts. When Echo squeezed down on them, Hope jerked away and winced.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” The grounders voiced out in concern.

“Nothing.” Hope crossed her arms, hugging herself and avoided Echo’s eyes. “I think it’s just sensitive because you bit down on it too hard last night.” The hazel eyed woman looked up again. It was weird because her other breast hurt too when she touched it and although Echo enjoyed toying with them, it never hurt Hope on the next day.

“I’m sorry, I will try to go easy on you tonight.” The spy smirked. They got intimate every night and even during the day. Hope was just too perfect not to touch all the time. Echo felt how she fell deeper and deeper and the thought didn’t scare her anymore. She was happy and that’s what she didn’t feel in a long time.

Both hugged and Echo gave Hope a forehead kiss while she still held her in her arms. She closed her eyes and relished the moment when a green light illuminated the cabin. It was the light of the anomaly, indicating that Gabriel finally arrived. Meeting each other’s gazes, they had a silent conversation. From now on they couldn’t be intimate whenever and wherever they wanted.

“It’s Gabriel.” Echo breathed out, stating the obvious. They ran outside and where met with a yelling Gabriel.

“I said we should go in together! TOGETHER!” The former prime was visibly frustrated and glared at the women. Then he adjusted his bag and looked inside it, pulling a tablet out. “No no no.” He gripped it tight and looked at the broken piece of technology from another century. Seeing his reelection in the black screen, which was disrupted by the various cracks it had. He fell to his knees and pulled Josephine’s minddrive out of the device. Then he dropped the now useless tablet and held the blue chip in both of his hands.

“Is that Josephine?” Echo asked. She never saw him in such a devastated state. When she received a nod she continued her questioning. “What is that thing for?” The grounder pointed at the device on the floor.

“It is a tablet that can read the minddrive and play it’s data.” His stare was blank as he looked at Echo while standing up again. Gabriel bend down and picked the tablet up. “Now it’s useless.” He gritted his teeth and threw it into the lake. It hit the surface of the water with a splash and it sank to the ground.

“Let’s go back to the cabi-“ Echo was interrupted by Hope who turned away from them and bend over. She vomited on the beach, spitting onto the floor. When Echo made an attempt to comfort her, she stretched her arm to keep her away.

“I’m fine.” Hope spit out, anger bubbling inside her and she shoved Echo away who made yet another attempt to touch her shoulder. “Stop treating me like a child! I said I am fine!” It wasn’t like Hope to get that angry all of a sudden and Echo frowned at her sudden outburst.

“I’m sorry.” The shorter woman shook her head and ran her hand through her hair. Gabriel looked at her and chuckled. Both women stared at him with a questioning gaze.

“Do you vomit frequently?” He asked and Hope nodded. The former prime mumbled to himself and counted all of Hope’s symptoms. “Nausea with vomiting, mood swings, fatigue and sensitive breasts.” He looked at Hope when he was done. “Am I right?”

“How…how do you know?” The hazel eyed woman asked in disbelieve. How could Gabriel be so precise about her condition when he just arrived? 

“Gabriel is a doctor.” Echo answered and titled her head to the side. She crossed her arms and looked at the former prime. “What is wrong with her?”

“Nothing.” Gabriel chuckled and when he saw the confused looks on both women he laughed. 

“This isn’t funny!” Hope cried out and threw her hands up in the air. How could this man laugh at that and say it was nothing? Because if it was nothing then why did she feel like shit.

“Did you have sex?” Gabriel asked seriously, his laugher died down and the doctor came to the surface. He was a geneticist, but he knew exactly what those symptoms were caused by.

At this question Hope turned red and she stared at the floor, suddenly at a loss for words. Echo was the one who broke the silence. “Yes, we laid together. What are you implying with this question?”

Gabriel’s jaw dropped in disbelieve at what he’d heard. Not because of Echo’s statement, but because of the sheer ignorance. He pointed at Echo’s crotch and laughed. “I don’t think you have the right equipment for that.” When he saw that she still didn’t catch on to what he meant, but started to get angry instead, he held his hands up in surrender. “All I wanted to say is, that Hope is pregnant and I doubt that you knocked her up.”

“You've got to be kidding me.” Hope chuckled and when she saw how Gabriel shook his head, she knew he was serious.


	5. The promise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neither of the three said anything, the only sound that rang through the air was the door that closed shut behind Echo. The older woman didn’t even look at Hope, instead she went straight to Gabriel and crossed her arms in front of her. “Do you know how we can make it to Bardo now? Under this cabin there is another anomaly stone, surely you can figure it out.”
> 
> The former prime held Echo’s stare and was confused at the lack of emotions it held. How could she be so focused, while the other woman’s emotions were all over the place. Gabriel shook his head and stood up. “No. Do you even know how many possible combinations there are? I spend over 200 years studying the stone and you expect me to come up with a code within a few days?” He scoffed and made his way to the door. When he opened it, he turned around and looked at the women. “I know it’s hard-“ He interrupted himself with a shook of his head. “No scratch that. I don’t know how you two must feel. I only know that you have to get your shit together. We have to work as a team to turn that disciple, Hope told me about, or else we all die here.” Then he excited and closed the door behind him, leaving the women alone.

“You've got to be kidding me.” Hope chuckled and when she saw how Gabriel shook his head, she knew he was serious.

Hope knitted her eyebrows and looked down at the beach floor. The waves of the water washed onto the shore. It was a rhythm that calmed the hazel eyed woman since she was a little girl. Then she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, listening to the sound of the waves. Whatever Gabriel had said can’t be true, there was just no way that this was happening.

“Are you sure.” Echo titled her head in the direction of the former prime, her gaze held something unreadable in them. The spy made sure to keep it as blank as possible.

“Without the right equipment? No.” He pocketed Josephine’s mind drive and scratched his chin. “We have to wait and see…” He pointed at Hope’s stomach awkwardly, who was staring into the distance. Her gaze wandered over the surface of the lake, then up to the sky until her eyes fixated on the ring.

“You won’t see anything, because there is no way that it could have happened.” Hope stared at Gabriel now, her stare was sure and steady. She knew how babies were conceived and not in a million years would she let a man touch her like that.

Gabriel nodded, suddenly thinking of a possibility. He swirled his finger in the air, a habit he had when he wanted to organize his thoughts that went through his head at high speed. “Maybe it was because of the anomaly.” His finger pointed at Echo and then at Hope. “You two touched each other when you went through it.” He chuckled and scratched his head. “Yeah yeah yeah. I don’t know how, but the anomaly mixed your genes together. How fascinating.” The geneticist in him got excited at that and he mumbled some scientific words, that neither Echo nor Hope could understand.

Echo wasn’t sure what to think or feel at what she just heard. To think that this child, that grew in the younger woman, was hers was absurd even for her standards. She could accept Skai people technology that granted them a home between the stars or a box that was so cold, it will stop time and lets you travel grant distances in the blink of an eye. But this? This was on a whole new level. She couldn’t grasp it, didn’t accept this. The grounder shook her head and without another word, she stormed into the direction of the forest. Away from them, away from Hope and the thing she didn’t want to be real.

Meanwhile the younger woman just stared blankly at the ground, her ears were ringing and she felt how she was about to get sick again. How could this even be possible? Why her? She just wanted to rescue her mom and aunty O and now this? This wasn’t fair. Without even looking at the former prime, she made her way back to the cabin and when she entered it, she didn’t even remember the way she took to get there. Not just her stare was blank, but her mind too.

Gabriel just looked at the two women who went into completely different directions and decided that both of them needed some time alone. He couldn’t even think of how they must be feeling or what was going on inside them. To find out that they will become parents must be a shock for them, considering that they came here with a to rescue their family and friends. A mission that was dangerous and with a child they could forget that now. He only wished he was wrong with his theory, but he was rarely wrong and as someone who lived long enough to witness a lot of pregnancies and even helped deliver babies into this universe, he knew he wasn’t.

So Gabriel flopped down onto the ground, his legs were crossed and he held Josephine’s mind drive between his thumb and forefinger. Then he brought it up to his lips, giving it a soft kiss as he closed his eyes and a tear rolled down his face as he remembered his old live and the many other lives he lived.

xxxx

When Gabriel entered the cabin, Hope didn’t much as look up. She just sat there on one of the chairs and her eyes stared at the wall in front of her. The man closed the door and looked around his new surroundings. He had sat on the beach for more than two hours and decided that it was time to talk to the young woman. “This is where you grew up?” Gabriel didn’t expect an answer, it was more of a rhetorical question anyway, wanting to break the silence.

When he sat down on the chair next to Hope, he sighed and rubbed his eyes with one and, while the other gripped the handle of his bag. “I know it must be hard for you, Hope.” The former prime breathed out and looked at the woman who was still looking at the wall ahead of her. “It’s important that you fill me in.” Still the other woman didn’t even so much as move a muscle, but he wanted answers. “Do you remember now?” Hope nodded a small nod and if he wouldn’t have looked at her, he would have missed it. “Where are we and who are the people that took Bellamy?”

Several minutes passed when the hazel eyed woman answered. “Skyring.” The former prime looked up at her and patiently waited for her to continue. “The disciples took him. They jumped to the next stop. Bardo.”

Gabriel’s eyebrows rose up in curiosity. “The next stop? There is another anomaly stone here?” Then he remembered the note that was stuck in Hope’s arm. “Do you have the note? Maybe it contains the code to open it and-“

“It’s useless. The code was washed away.” Hope looked at him for the first time since he entered the cabin. “Don’t you think I have tried to get to Bardo the second I landed here?” She scoffed, thinking how naïve the scientist was. “We are stuck here. The only way out is a prisoner, who gets picked up by the disciples in five years.” She shook her head and chuckled. “He was here a few years now and lost his mind. It will be hard to turn him.” Thinking back to the dead bodies and seeing Dev who sat amongst them made her blood boil, but she calmed herself before she continued. “He is a lv. twelve and thus a dangerous warrior. We have to be careful when he approaches us.”

Gabriel nodded while he processed all the new information. “We will turn him. There is no other way around it.” And there wasn’t, he and Hope knew it.

For a few more minutes the cabin was enveloped in silence, but Hope’s laugh broke it and startled the former prime. “It doesn’t matter.” She shook her head, still laughing. “I will be stuck here forever and never see my mom nor aunty O ever again. Not with…” She didn’t want to speak it out. If she did, it would become real and she wasn’t ready to make it real. Not now.

“We will find a solu-“ Gabriel was cut short by the Hope who stood up abruptly.

“There is no solution! You and Echo will jump to Bardo and I will be stuck here and die!” The brunette spat the words out as if they were acid. She took a deep breath and held her hand against her forehead while trying to calm herself. When she turned around and away from him, she said in a much calmer voice. “Nothing matters now, anyways.”

Hope felt alone right now. She would never see her family again. All those years of training were in vain. All those nights she cried herself to sleep and dreamed about how she finally was reunited with them, now ridiculous and naïve. Even Echo left her, the woman she thought loved her. In this moment she was glad that Gabriel couldn’t see her face, as a silent tear rolled down her cheek and onto the wooden floor. A tear that contained all her hopes and dreams.

When the door opened a second time within the past hour, it was the spy who entered the cabin and Hope quickly wiped away the wet trail the tear left behind. She didn’t want to let her see how much she was hurting, when the grounder didn’t even care. 

Neither of the three said anything, the only sound that rang through the air was the door that closed shut behind Echo. The older woman didn’t even look at Hope, instead she went straight to Gabriel and crossed her arms in front of her. “Do you know how we can make it to Bardo now? Under this cabin there is another anomaly stone, surely you can figure it out.”

The former prime held Echo’s stare and was confused at the lack of emotions it held. How could she be so focused, while the other woman’s emotions were all over the place. Gabriel shook his head and stood up. “No. Do you even know how many possible combinations there are? I spend over 200 years studying the stone and you expect me to come up with a code within a few days?” He scoffed and made his way to the door. When he opened it, he turned around and looked at the women. “I know it’s hard-“ He interrupted himself with a shook of his head. “No scratch that. I don’t know how you two must feel. I only know that you have to get your shit together. We have to work as a team to turn that disciple, Hope told me about, or else we all die here.” Then he excited and closed the door behind him, leaving the women alone.

xxxx

Gabriel didn’t know what happened or was said between them when he left the cabin that day. He only knows that Echo kept avoiding the younger woman and only spoke to her when it was necessary and even then, not more than a few words. Echo made sure to keep her emotions in check, meaning she never showed anything other than a scowl or a blank expression on her face. Hope on the other hand wasn’t a skilled spy who could control her emotions. She was angry, upset, sad and frustrated and she showed it. Gabriel couldn’t blame her.

Two more months went by since he arrived, which marked a little over three months for the women and by now Hope’s belly grew so much that it was visible through her tight clothes. He was right. Normally he was happy when he got something right, but in this situation he didn’t feel happy. He felt pity for the young woman. Gabriel spoke with Hope and that she could come to him if she had any problems regarding the pregnancy. He wasn’t a specialist in this field, but he did know a thing or two and he was a doctor after all. Hope nodded at that offer and she did come to him every now and then.

Although the two women didn’t interact that much, they all worked together to make Orlando see that it was much better to live the next five years in the company of other humans. The trio made sure to joke around whenever they saw how he observed them. The plan was to make him yearn human interaction and one day he did approach them, or rather Echo, who was sprinkling powdered jellyfish onto her potatoes while speaking to them.

“Yes Gabriel. I’m talking to the plants. Makes them taste bet-“ When the spy turned around she didn’t expect Orlando to stand behind her, but she quickly regained her composure.

The man held a metal cylinder in his hand and said that they were pumpkin seeds and how much Hope likes pumpkins. He asked if she was here and Echo nodded at that. “She is. Plant the seeds. I’ll go get her.” Orlando seemed satisfied with her answer and began to sow the seeds while the grounder went inside. When Gabriel returned to the cabin with two buckets full of fresh water from the creek, he startled the disciple, who fell over the tomato bush and fled into the woods again.

“Two months playing happy family to lure him in and you blew it.” Hope said sarcastically while exiting the cabin, followed by Echo’s “Screw that. Look at the tomatoes.” The grounder was visibly frustrated at how her precious tomatoes looked like. She sowed them with her own hands when she and Hope prepared the garden and to see them uprooted like that made her sad. The former prime masked his embarrassment and assured that he’ll be back and he was right. Orlando came back four days later when the trio trained together. Of course, Hope didn’t do any dangerous things, doctors order. Echo and Gabriel on the other hand trained with knifes and did some hand to hand combat. When the disciple showed up, he crossed his arms and observed them. Echo went to him and was face to face with Orlando again. She challenged him to fight her and offered the cabin as his prize if he would win and if she would win, he would train them. No way the spy couldn’t beat him, she was sure about herself but was put on her ass in mere seconds.

So the trio spent the night outside the cabin, in the middle of their garden and a fire to keep them warm. Gabriel laid between them and grumpily said that Echo should leave his bed out of it the next time, while Hope chuckled. She had to think about how her aunty O would laugh at how Echo got her ass kicked.

“Good night Orlando!” Hope called out into the direction of the cabin, then she laid back turned to Gabriel and said “Good night Gabriel.” At which the former prime only ‘hmmmed’ in acknowledgment. 

Echo didn’t expect the soft “Goodnight Echo” at the end and she was surprised to the point that her mouth slightly was agape. She felt how her heart skipped a beat and when she turned to Hope, the younger woman had her back to her. Sure the spy felt something for her, such strong feelings couldn’t be turned off just like that. She did feel bad for avoiding her the past two months, but she didn’t know how to handle the whole situation otherwise. She needed time to think. It broke her heart to see the shorter woman like that. Echo made up her mind to confront her feelings and the situation. Now there was no going back, she would take responsibility.

The spy waited until Gabriel’s breath evened out, indicated that he was fast asleep, then she stood up and made her way to Hope. She gently touched her shoulder and held her forefinger against her lips to show her to be quiet. Although Hope knitted her eyebrows together in confusion, she obeyed the spy. Echo made a gesture for her to follow and both women went through the woods and down to the beach in silence.

The grounder sat down onto the sand and Hope followed suit, flopping down next to her. The night wasn’t particularly cold nor warm either and a light breeze went through the woods, making the leaves rustle and shake in its wake. When Echo looked up to the sky, she was met with a sea of stars and the beautiful ring, that shone in a silver shimmer. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, steeling herself. “I’m sorry, Hope.” Her voice was full of regret and sadness and when she looked at the younger woman, her eyes held the same emotions. “I’m sorry that I left you alone. I was scared.” The last sentence was said in a shaky whisper.

Hope was silent. She was trying to find the right words to answer while her heart beat so fast she couldn’t concentrate on her own thoughts. Then she focused on the waves that washed onto the shore and closed her eyes. Her heart beat now slightly calmer, she looked at Echo and met her gaze. “I’m scared too.” Tears flowed down freely and she didn’t care that Echo saw them, she wanted to show her how much she had hurt her. 

The grounder immediately hugged the shorter woman, feeling how her tears made contact with her neck. She rocked Hope in her arms while she cried and Echo shed a few tears of her own. It felt good to be near the hazel eyed woman again. Every cell in her body had screamed at her for two months to not run away. It took nearly all her strength and willpower to resist but now was enough. Now she only wanted to touch, comfort and to be there for her and the little life that grew inside her.

They stayed like that for more than 20 minutes, until they no longer had any tears left to shed. Still in the embrace Hope titled her head upwards and away from the crook of Echo’s neck. She leaned her forehead against hers and both relished in the closeness they had for the first time in months. Echo wasn’t sure who leaned in first, the only thing she knew was how much she missed the feeling of Hope’s soft lips against her own. The kiss held a silent promise. A promise that she would never leave Hope alone.

When they parted, Hope leaned slightly back and took Echo’s hand in hers. She guided it to her belly and held it there with her own hand. Echo gently stroked it and smiled. Then she looked up at the younger woman. “Ai swear kom shil yu tu kom ai sonraun.” (I swear to protect you two with my life) A fierce determination ignited within her and although Hope didn’t speak trigedaslang, she understood.

xxxx

Orlando promised to train them and Echo emphasized that in battle things didn’t always went as planned. That if they had no other choice, they wouldn’t hesitate and kill one of his people and the man nodded in agreement. 

“I will make disciples of you, so you can rescue your friends and family.” He told them and then pointed at Hope’s growing belly. “You on the other hand are not allowed to train until after birth.”

Hope rolled her eyes and sighed in annoyance at that, but she understood. She would sit through six more month of doing nothing other than gardening. At least the morning sickness was over, so that’s a plus. Gabriel said she will experience back pain and frequent urination in a few weeks. The brunette would suffer through it, how hard would it be?

It turned out that Hope overestimated herself. The back pain followed by swelling of her ankles made it hard to walk or even fall asleep. And god did she hate that her bladder was getting squeezed by the baby, making her practically stay in the bathroom all day. Hope got even frustrated to the point that she snapped a lot more at Echo, but the grounder never snapped back because she knew it was hard for her.

By now Gabriel, Echo and Orlando trained for five months and Hope could only watch, wishing she could train with them. How badly she wanted to run and fight again, instead she just sat there at the foot of a tree and observed how the disciple showed Gabriel a new technique to disable an enemy, while Echo threw knives at a target, she drew on a tree trunk. The hazel eyed woman took a deep breath and released it again, bracing herself to stand up. She grunted when she finally stood on her feet and held her big belly. Hope was eight months pregnant by now and Gabriel calculated the due day in three weeks. As she felt a kick, she closed her eyes and smiled while stroking over her belly. Hope thought back to the first time it happened.

-4 MONTHS EARLIER-

It was 3am and all residents of Skyring were fast asleep. Hope shared her old room with the spy, while the men slept in the living room. Echo spooned her from behind, a protective hand over her belly. When she felt something move against her hand, her eyes flew open. Hope turned around and faced the grounder, who was smiling. “Did you feel that?” Echo whispered and her smile grew.

Hope chuckled and stroked the grounders hand, that was still covering her belly. “It’s literally happening inside me, of course I felt it.” Echo snuggled closer to the shorter woman and captured her lips. The kiss was soft and sweet and the grounder wanted to show her how she felt. Hope grinned into the kiss and soon Echo did the same, both of them feeling the teeth of the other against their lips.

“Ai hod yu in.” It was a silent whisper, but Hope caught it anyways. She blinked and knitted her eyebrows together in confusion. “What does that mean?” 

Several second passed and when the grounder didn’t answer, Hope glided her hand over Echo’s skin that was exposed because her shirt rose up when she moved. A sharp gasped pierced through the room followed by a whimper when Hope reached her destination. She started to draw slow circles around the spy’s clit but then stopped abruptly.

“Tell me and I might continue.” She said in a mischievous voice and kissed Echo on the corner of her mouth.

The older woman took a deep breath and held her stare. “I love you.” She breathed out and searched the eyes of the other woman. Searching for something that might made her regret saying those three words, but there wasn’t anything. Instead, Hope captured her lips and when she leaned back, she was smiling.

“I hot you in?” She tried the words on her tongue and Echo smiled, thinking how cute it was. “You have to teach me trigedaslang. Aunty O didn’t want to teach me, she said with only three people on this planet one language is enough.” 

“I will.” Echo could just finish her sentence, before she broke out in a silent moan when she felt how Hope continued her work.

“I love you too.”

-PRESENT-

The due date got closer and closer and it made Echo more anxious than Hope. The hazel eyed woman reassured her that everything will be fine. That her mother had only Octavia, in compression they had Gabriel who has quite a lot of experience with delivering babies. But all this didn’t ease the tension the grounder felt. She saw how women died while giving birth, even though there was a healer who did everything to prevent it. Not even Gabriel could ease that nagging feeling she had.

When Hope went into labour, Echo was immediately by her side and helped her get inside the cabin and onto the bed. She sprinted out of the door to get Gabriel, who was hunting for jellyfishes with Orlando at the lake. In this moment she run faster than ever in her life, even faster than Hope, she thought.

Echo was by Hope’s side the whole time, letting the younger woman hold her hand in a death grip, wiping her sweat covered forehead with a cloth, all while she had to listen to Hope snap at her. “Why do I have to suffer? It’s your fault I’m in this situation. Aaaargh!” She screamed while she was red like a tomato and covered in sweat, trying to push.

It took Hope four hours of pushing and swearing, but she finally made it. Once Gabriel held the baby in his hands, he cut off the umbilical cord and gave the newborn a clap to make it scream. Echo and Hope broke out in tears of joy when the scream pierced through the room. After the doctor wrapped it in a blanket, he gave it to Hope. “It’s a girl.” The former prime smiled and backed away to leave the room, giving the new parents time alone.

Hope held her daughter as delicately as possible in her arms. “Hi little human. I’m your mommy and this is your Nomon.” Hope cooed at their daughter, then she looked at Echo, who sat at her side on the bed. The spy was so absorbed by looking at the little bundle in her arms, that she didn’t even hear what Hope said. Only when Hope repeated herself, she looked at her. “Do you wanna hold her?” The grounder nodded and so Hope gave her the bundle in her arms. Echo smiled down at the baby and at this moment she knew, she would do anything for her.

After Hope breastfed her, she was sleeping peacefully in her arms. By now Echo laid next to Hope, an arm slung over her shoulder to be as near as possible to both of them. Two hours went by when they heard a soft knock on the door and after Echo’s “come in” Orlando and Gabriel stepped into the room.

“What a beautiful girl.” Orlando smiled as he looked at the sleeping newborn. “Did you come up with a name yet?”

Both women talked about what to name their child, since Hope was five months pregnant, but they never could quite agree on one. Up until now. When they saw her, they knew exactly what to name her.

Hope smiled and looked at Echo. “Sky. Her name is Sky.”


	6. Ste yuj

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The days blurred into each other, it was as if the last month was short and long all at the same time. In one month, they would leave Skyring and jump to Bardo and try to rescue their family. In one month, everything would change and an uncertain future awaited them. Uncertain if their family was still alive and if so, would they be able to rescue them at all? All these worries rested on them heavy and the pressure to not fail made it almost hard to breath sometimes. It felt like a deep dark hole, that pulled them in and no matter what they did to prevent it, it just swallowed them whole and soon they wouldn’t feel anything but an emptiness in their hearts. The only thing they could cling to was Sky, who they would do anything for to come back to again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello and welcome back :)

A shrill laughter rang through the cabin as little and clumsy footsteps drummed over the wooden floor. “Ah! Gotcha!” Gabriel exclaimed as he caught the little girl in his arms. They played tag all day and the little girl couldn’t get enough of it. Sky was four years old and everyone adored the little ball of sunshine.

“Uncle Gabby let me down.” The child laughed as the man swung her around, knowing all too well that Sky enjoyed it. It made her feel like she could fly and she had the opportunity to see the world out of the eyes of the adults, while she was at their eye level. 

Hope was seated at the table and looked on in amusement how the former prime played with her daughter. In this moment she was happy and content, never wanting it to end, but that was naïve thinking. She looked to her right and saw how Echo hided a smile of her own behind the cup she brought to her lips. After Sky was born, the hazel eyed woman could finally train again and made quick progress. In not even six months she was nearly as good as Echo and Gabriel who trained under Orlando all these months while she was pregnant. The disciple praised her as a very gifted student and that gave her confidence. Confidence she already had of course, mind you, but to hear that from a level twelve was something special.

“Mommy! Nomon! Look, I’m flying!” Sky giggled as Gabriel held her up into the air and walked through the cabin.

“I can see that, little one.” Hope smiled and looked down at the hand that covered her own. The spy squeezed it gently and Hope’s heart swelled at the sheer love she felt in this moment. She couldn’t grasp how lucky she was. They had their own little family on Skyring, completely separated from all the things that were going on in Sanctum and Bardo. Their little family. Echo, her partner and lover, who was always there for her and Sky. The monster of her bedtime stories, now a person she would do anything for and she knows Echo would do the same for her, without a second thought. Sky, their daughter, a little ray of sunshine who made everyone laugh. Hope couldn’t think of a life without her and she didn’t want to. Gabriel, the former prime, who quickly became part of their family. He was Sky’s aunty O and that made the hazel eyed woman happy. And lastly Orlando, the mad man who wanted to kill them when they arrived. Now he was their mentor and a good friend.

Hope let out a deep sigh, content because she was surrounded by the people she loved. But something was missing and that made the hazel eyed woman almost feel guilty. Guilty to feel this happy and content when she knew that her mom and aunty O most likely were resisting m-cap and in the process getting hurt. 

“Hey.” The soft voice of the grounder broke her out of her thinking and she turned to face her. Seeing how Echo searched her eyes for the reason why she was mentally absent. Hope saw how realization dawned on her lover as she pinpointed why. It was weird how well Echo came to know her in these years they had spent together. Not weird in a bad way, it was just amazing how the grounder could remember little details she had told her months ago. Every time she remembered something, Hope fell a little more for Echo. “We’ll get them back. I promise.” She whispered, brought Hope’s hand to her lips and gave it a soft kiss.

The door to the cabin swung open and Orlando stood there with a basket full of vegetables. With one hand he held the basket and with the other he held the door open. There on his forearm were the numbers ’00:02:05:15:00:28’ visible. Absolution day was only two months and five days away and with each passing day every inhabitant of Skyring grew more and more impatient.

The disciple put the basket down on the kitchen counter and started to prepare lunch. Taking a knife, he peeled the potatoes he took from the garden. Hope joined him and both worked wordlessly next to each other. Now the cabin was enveloped in silence, the scratching of knifes against vegetable skin was the only sound that filled the room. Sky looked around, observing every adult carefully. She noticed their behavior had changed in the past few months, but couldn’t quite understand why.

Echo clapped her hands together to break the silence. She walked to the door and gestured for her daughter to come with her. “Ai goufa, miya.” (My child, come.) Gabriel let her go and she ran to her nomon.

“Can we play hide and seek?” Sky hugged the grounders legs and looked up with a wide grin on her face. She loved to play games with her nomon and Echo used that as an opportunity to teach her playfully how to be a gona.

Echo laughed and stroked her over the head, while she titled her head to the side. “Gabriel, you’ve heard her.” She glanced to the former prime, who followed her and Sky out the door, leaving Orlando and Hope alone.

The spy wasn’t this happy in a long time. If her people would see her like this, they would say she had gone soft and weak. But they were no more so she dismissed this thought and enjoyed the carefree years with every breath she took. She was many things throughout the years. Ash, a girl that was born on the land of ice and snow. Echo, the spy that served under Queen Nia, a young woman who got herself captured by the mountain, while on a mission. Then she became just Echo, a spy who nobody needed, but her spacefamily showed her otherwise. And because of Bellamy she went through the anomaly and became Echo, the mother of a little girl named Sky.

It was a long and arduous journey but all the decisions she had made let her to this point she was right now. All the people she had killed, all the people she had betrayed and all the people she had loved. She would do it all over again if that meant she would end up where she was right now.

xxxx

The next morning came and with it a new day of training. They would train for another month under Orlando’s hard and strict methods. The disciple said they would soon reach level twelve and be ready for absolution day and he was right, all three of them were able to beat him on their final test.

The days blurred into each other, it was as if the last month was short and long all at the same time. In one month, they would leave Skyring and jump to Bardo and try to rescue their family. In one month, everything would change and an uncertain future awaited them. Uncertain if their family was still alive and if so, would they be able to rescue them at all? All these worries rested on them heavy and the pressure to not fail made it almost hard to breath sometimes. It felt like a deep dark hole, that pulled them in and no matter what they did to prevent it, it just swallowed them whole and soon they wouldn’t feel anything but an emptiness in their hearts. The only thing they could cling to was Sky, who they would do anything for to come back to again.

Hope proposed a plan a few months after Sky was born. That, on the night of Orlando’s absolution day, Gabriel will take two helmets for himself and Sky and jump back to Sanctum. Orlando explained that the helmets would show him the code he has to enter. He would use the stone under the cabin to make the jump and wait on Sanctum with Sky until they returned.

The last month before the jump, they would rehearse their moves every day, over and over again. After two weeks of rehearsing, they worked together like a well-oiled machine, but Orlando urged them on to train until the day before his absolution day, despite their complaints. 

To think that the day, they all waited five years for, was in not more than two weeks, was surreal. A look on Orlando’s arm and at the numbers, made the trio nervous in anticipation. It was like these two weeks were the longest they had ever experienced and the only way to keep them sane was training, gardening and Sky.

Gabriel kneeled down on the ground, harvesting the pumpkins that grew on the left side of the garden. His mouth already watered at the thought of how delicious the pumpkin soup would taste like. He was pulled out of his daydreaming when a shadow appeared above him, blocking the sun. The man looked up to see Hope standing in front of him with fidgeting hands.

“Hey Gabriel, are you done with-“ the woman stopped herself mid-sentence and looked around, making sure nobody was there to eavesdrop. “-with the stone?” She whispered the last part.

The former prime smiled and nodded his head. Pumpkins forgotten, he stood up and gestured for her to follow him into the woods. When the pair was far enough away, they could speak freely again.

“It wasn’t easy, but I’ve finally succeeded.” Gabriel praised himself and puffed his chest out in pride while sporting a smirk on his lips.

“Good, because time is running out and I have to get started soon if I want to do it in the last two weeks we have left.” Hope stressed out and licked her lips. She ran her fingers through her long brunette hair, loosening the knots that formed in them over the day.

After fifteen minutes they reached a cave, which was surrounded by thick bushes. Even the opening was hidden behind a layer of leaves and undergrowth. Nobody but them knew about the cave, they made sure of it. Gabriel pulled the bush back and Hope entered the dark cave, excited to finally get started.

Inside the cave, Gabriel lit up the various torches that hung on the walls and the candles that stood on the wooden table. Now Hope could see the weird objects that the man crafted during the years. In the corner were baskets full of coal and iron ore. Next to it was an apparatus that went all the way over the fireplace, which was located at the middle, until its long wooden pipe ended above a little clay vase.

“What’s that?” The hazel eyed woman pointed at the huge apparatus with knitted eyebrows and then looked at the former prime.

“Ah that is something I came up with while working on your demand.” He grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. “I found a mineral named chalcanthite and experimented a little with it and guess what, I could extract sulfuric acid, which I’ve added water to and through a complicated and mind you, it was really challenging to do this with the limited tools I had-“

“Gabriel.” The woman interrupted his rambling about science she didn’t understand. “I came here for the stone, not for your science lectures.” She stretched her hand out, too impatient to continue the conversation.

“Right!” Gabriel turned around and walked to the table. He took the object, that was wrapped up in a white cloth, from it. When he stood in front of Hope again, she tried to snatch it out of his grasp, but he held it up in the air and out of her reach. “You’re welcome.” Then he gave it to the hazel eyed woman who immediately unwrapped it.

The amethyst was beautiful and had a deep violet color. It was pointy on all ends and she only had two weeks to shape it into a tear like form. Hope had this idea a while ago, to make a necklace for Echo. A promise that she will always love her. A few months ago, she asked Gabriel for help and the man immediately agreed, so he mined it out of another cave, where he also found the other mineral. It was hard work, but he succeeded.

“Hope, I think you will like the thing I’ve told you about, before you so rudely interrupted me!” Gabriel turned around and fetched the clay vase that stood on the floor, right under the pipe of the apparatus. “This.” He held the vase in front of her and continued. “This is hydrogen peroxide.”

Hope looked at him with a raised eyebrow, unimpressed and huffed out in frustration. “And?”

“It’ll make your hair blond.” He grinned and swirled the vase in his hands so the pale blue liquid inside swirled too. That did catch Hope’s attention and she titled her head, suddenly interested at the liquid inside the little clay vase. “It isn’t much though and wouldn’t be enough for all your hair.” With the hand that wasn’t holing the vase, he scratched his chin and faked pity. “You have to cut it really short if you want to dye it.”

Hope ran her fingers through her hair a second time that day and the last time it seems, as she breathed out. “Let’s do this.”

Several hours passed when Hope and Gabriel finally exited the cave. The sun hung low on the horizon and the last sun beams flooded the woods with a warm orange light. The leaves started to change color and a few even fell to the floor. Unfortunately, they wouldn’t have the pleasure to experience fall or any other season on Skyring, anymore. It would soon get cold, but after they would finally leave. 

Gabriel stretched himself, lifting his arms above his head and yawned loudly. Next to him Hope laughed and shook her head in amusement. The man reached out and ruffled her now short blond hair and grinned. “I did a pretty good job, if I may say so myself.”

They made their way quickly back to the cabin and just when they entered the garden, the door flung open and a pissed off Echo stormed out. “Where the hell have you two been!?!?!” The grounder stopped dead in her tracks when she saw how Hope looked like and in a much calmer voice, she addressed her. “Hope, what…” 

The woman in question hugged herself, although it wasn’t that cold, and scraped the ground with her left shoe. She looked at her lover sheepishly and smiled. “Do you like it?”

Meanwhile Gabriel made his way passed Echo, using the confusion to not face her wrath and Echo didn’t even notice, she had her eyes fixated on Hope. “I…” Her mouth was agape and she now really looked at the younger woman, totally stunned at how a simple haircut could make her look even more appealing. “You look good.” She breathed out, finally able to form a sentence.

Hope smiled, showing teeth and then she took a few steps until she was right in front of the spy. Without wasting anymore time, Echo crashed their lips together. One hand went into her now short hair, exploring the new change of her lover, while the other rested on her hip. After some time they parted, breathless and flushed, resting their foreheads together. Grinning, the blonde took her hand and pulled her inside the cabin and Echo let her, all the anger and worries forgotten.

xxxx

The sun was about to set, painting the sky in a red-pinkish hue. Like a canvas on which someone spilled colors. The wind blew softly over the surface of the lake and through the woods, shaking the leaves off the trees and making them dance in the air. The youngest inhabitant of Skyring was fast asleep when the full moon was up, surrounded by a sea of stars, amidst the darkness of the universe. 

Tonight, was the night they all waited for and all of them were seated around the table. Absolution day was only two hours away. They were on edge, adrenaline pumping through their veins and hearts beating faster than normal. 

“Congratulations on reaching level twelve.” Orlando praised them as he drew the symbols onto Hope’s face. “Hey, Dev would be proud of you. I know I am.” Hope smiled at the praise and then looked at the others when Orlando addressed them. “That goes for both of you too. I wish all my trainees were as determined as you. Who’s next?”

Gabriel was eating jellyfish etouffee, the last meal they had prepared today, then he looked at Echo. “You go. I’m eating.” 

The grounder cut her hair a few days after Hope did and the blonde loved it. It suited Echo, made her look younger and yes, she looked quite sexy, Hope had said. “You’re always eating.” She teased him and went to the seat Hope occupied. She kissed the blonde on the top of her head and when Hope stood up, Echo took her seat, while Hope flopped down in hers, switching seats.

Orlando drew on all their faces and when he finished, they had now one hour left until the disciples came. Gabriel gestured for Orlando to go with him and both men left the cabin, mumbling to prepare everything. They would have to tie their mentor on a tree to set the trap and make their move.

When Hope and Echo were alone, the blonde stood up and went to their room. There in the bed slept Sky and Hope had to think of herself, when she was a child and her mother had left her. Before the tear, that was threatening to spill fell, she wiped it away and turned her head to the side. Echo hugged her from behind, wrapping her arms around her middle. “Gabriel will keep her save.” The brunette whispered in her ear and hugged her tighter.

The blonde sighed and untangled herself from Echo and both took a few steps forward to stand beside the bed. Hope leaned down and stroked the light brown hair of their daughter, bending down she gave her a kiss on the forehead. Echo did the same, and silently whispered “Ste yuj.” (Be strong)

The parents silently left the room again and closed the door. Hope went back to the table, touching the key of the hatch, to make sure that it was there and everything would go smoothly. The blonde pressed her lips together and reached inside her pocket, feeling the neckless between her fingers. She devoted every spare minute she had in shaping it and only yesterday she finished. The neckless itself was brown, but the amethyst was a beautiful violet.

“Echo.” She turned around and faced the brunette, who was only a few inches away from her. Hope’s breath caught in her throat for a moment before she continued. “I love you and I will never leave your side.” She pulled the necklace out of her pocket and held it in her hands. “Please, I want to spent the rest of my life with you.” Gulping, she waited for the brunette to finally say something, but all she got in return were tears that streamed down Echo’s face.

The blonde tensed up at that, thinking Echo was upset with her, judging by her reaction. When the older woman wiped her tears away, a smile replaced them and she laughed “I want that too.” Both hugged tightly, crying and smiling until they separated again.

“Turn around.” The hazel eyed woman smiled and Echo did as she was told. Hope stood behind her and put the necklace around the brunettes’ neck. 

When Echo turned around again, she met her with a soft and sweet kiss and whispered against them. “Ai hod yu in.”

xxxx

A green shimmer laid itself over Skyring, coming from the lake. Five disciples stepped out of it, all of them walked steadily and with determination. “Master Orlando. Time for your absolution!” One of them called out, but was interrupted when one of them saw that Orlando was tied onto a tree.

The moment they ghosted, Echo fired a laser beam on them. They found an old suit in the cabin, Hope told them about. She and Octavia found it in the garden when she was seven. All five of them were immediately knocked out cold. “Nice shot! The bridge closes in five minutes. Move! Move!” Gabriel called out and the trio sprinted to the now unconscious and visible bodies.

Gabriel untied Orlando, while Echo and Hope pulled off the suits of the disciples. Suddenly one of the disciples stood up, knife at the ready. He launched himself at Echo, but before he could make his way near her, Hope stepped in. “Not again.” She stabbed him in the neck, right where his helmet met his suit.

The brunette turned around and met her lover half way. She had her hands on the blonde’s neck, while Hope grasped her shoulders, holding on as if her life depended on it. “Thank you.” Echo breathed out, while their forehead touched and then their lips met. “Suit up.” The grounder nodded and got a nod in return.

Meanwhile Gabriel tied every one of the disciples, he would leave a knife behind, so they could untie themselves after he and Sky had left. The former prime took two helmets and looked at Orlando who was right next to him, his mentor pulled the suit of his former student on.

“How much time?” Echo asked anxiously as she fastened her new boots.

“Two minutes and 10 seconds.” Gabriel called out and helped Orlando with the breastplate.

When everyone was suited up, they looked at each other with determination in their eyes. Hope looked at Gabriel, who held two helmets in his arms. “I will keep her save, don’t worry.” Hope nodded and pulled on her own helmet, Echo and Orlando followed suit. After they had vanished into the bridge, Gabriel sprinted back to the cabin and went straight to Sky, who was still blissfully asleep.

“Hey little one.” He shook her gently awake and lifted her out of the bed and into his arms. “We’ll go downstairs and play a little. How does that sound?” The girl was too tired to answer him and continued to sleep in his arms, even when he pulled the much too big helmet over her head. The little girl didn’t even stir when they stepped through the anomaly and back to Sanctum.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did a little bit of research (and yes of course, it's more complicated than this haha) on how to generate hydrogen peroxide, because the show never explained how Hope could dye her hair (just like Gaia).  
> Like does H2O2 just lay around or something? xD


	7. Your escape ends here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Echo and Hope looked at each other and nodded before pulling their helmets on, going after Orlando. Once outside, they entered the halls of Bardo. Cold, just like the stone room, but instead of white they were grey. The blonde huffed out a puff of air under her helmet. She was back on Bardo, after five years of waiting and with Orlando on their side, she was sure that it was the last time she ever had to see it again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! What an episode! I’m so happy with the ending. It was so satisfying and no loose ends was left being untold. And we are not clowns for waiting four fucking years for Lexa!??!?!? WE STAY WINNING! Oh and of course Hope will soon realize that she is in love with Echo and dumb Jordan’s ass

The anomaly flared in a bright green color, indicating that someone was coming through. Gabriel stepped out of the vortex and looked around. It was a chill night and when he looked up, he didn’t see the ring, instead there were only stars that sparkled. It was the same night they stepped into the anomaly, for him five years had passed but here on Sanctum only a few seconds had gone by. The former prime adjusted the little girl in his arms, shifting her slightly and even that didn’t wake her up. As he removed his helmet Gabriel took a deep breath, finally able to breath the air of his home again.

“Let’s go home.” He smiled down at the girl after he took off her helmet as well. Sky was still peacefully sleeping in his arms. Gabriel’s smile dropped the instant he thought of the moment she’ll wake up and ask him about her mommy and nomon. The man sighed and walked through the forest, telling himself that this was a problem for tomorrow. He crossed his fingers that they will return before she wakes up though.

It took him more than an hour to walk back to his home and when he did, the many radios he hung on a pole greeted him. Statics and other noises filled the air, back then it was normal and comforting to him, but now it was strange. Gabriel lived five years on a planet with no other sound than the chirping of bugs and the soft snoring of Orlando and to hear radio sounds made his skin crawl. So, the next thing he did was pull the plug and all of a sudden there was silence again, just like on Skyring.

When he entered his tent, he looked around and everything was like he left it. His gaze fell on the field bed Hope laid on, when she fell unconscious after she stabbed Octavia all those years ago. The former prime was pulled out of his thoughts when the weight in his arms shifted. “Uncle Gabby.” Sky yawned while hiding her head in the crook of his neck. Just as quickly as she woke up, the little girl fell asleep again and the man was thankful for it. Right now, he didn’t have the energy to deal with a crying four-year-old child, because their parents weren’t there. 

The man laid her down as carefully as possible onto the bed and pulled a blanket over her. He sat beside the girl and stroked her brunette hair out of her face, smiling when she wrinkled her nose in her sleep. Gabriel will keep his promise. He would do anything to keep her safe.

xxxx

The stone levitated inside a white room and on the floor kneeled three people. A man in a white robe, who had his back to the stone and two disciples who faced him. All three had their hands up in die air and their eyes closed as their said “for all mankind” in unison like a prayer. They were startled as the bridge opened all of a sudden and all of them stood up, getting ready to greet their comrades.

“Here comes the retrieving team. Took them long enough.” The female disciple commented as the man in the white robe pulled a one-eye google over his head. They were visibly confused as nobody stepped through. 

Suddenly the disciples were knocked out and fell to the cold white floor unconscious, while the man in the white robe choked out a wet gasp, as he too fell to the floor. On his white robe was a red stain visible, that expanded as the blood poured out of his chest, where the knife had pierced his skin. 

The trio turned off ghost mode and made themselves visible again. “Echo, what have you done?!” Orlando scolded the grounder in a stern voice after he pulled off his helmet and looked to the woman beside him.

“It wasn’t me.” The woman in question pulled off her helmet as well and addressed the man, who turned around to look at her in confusion. He wasn’t expecting that at all.

The blonde was the last one to pull her helmet off and she stared at the lifeless body of the man she just had killed. “We don’t need to take unnecessary risks.” She would do anything to get her family back, even kill. Those people stole fifteen years of her life, they deserve to die.

“I am here to minimize unnecessary risks. There was no need to kill him.” Orlando said in a bitter voice, disdain showed on his aged face as he observed the lifeless body of a conductor, a man that was one of his people. It was his fault that he was dead and the thought that he was a traitor to his people and jeopardize the transcendence of all mankind, made him sick to his stomach.

Meanwhile Hope and Echo dragged the bodies, dead and alive, to the corner of the room and into a locker like opening in the wall. After they had managed to dumb them in, Hope closed the door, concealing them.

“We have thirty minutes to get to the cellblock to get your family and come back to the stone room, before shift change.” The disciple voiced out, he masked his anger and strode forward to the door. “Come.” With that he touched the switch on the wall and the door opened in an instant.

Echo and Hope looked at each other and nodded before pulling their helmets on, going after Orlando. Once outside, they entered the halls of Bardo. Cold, just like the stone room, but instead of white they were grey. The blonde huffed out a puff of air under her helmet. She was back on Bardo, after five years of waiting and with Orlando on their side, she was sure that it was the last time she ever had to see it again.

As the trio strode through the hallway, Orlando at the front, five other disciples crossed their way. The couple behind Orlando tensed up as one of the disciples spoke to their friend. “Master Orlando! It is a pleasure to have you back.” The man acknowledged the greeting with a nod and a grunt, never faltering in his stride. 

Six more disciples joined them in the hallway and soon they formed a group. When they all rounded a corner, Hope stopped abruptly and Echo followed suit, making the disciples bump into them. “Hey! Why did you stop?” One of them commented in a frustrated voice.

“The cellblocks are this way. Why would Orlando take us in the other direction?” The blonde spoke through the comms, that were set to a private channel.

“Move! We are already late!” A female disciple commanded in a stern voice and pushed forward, walking between Echo and Hope. 

To not alarm them any further they started to walk again and followed Orlando, who was already at the end of the hallway. “Patience, Hope.” She found it suspicious too. Will Orlando betray them? It was a possibly, but for now they had to follow and see.

No further suspicion was voiced out by the disciples as they continued to walk with them. Another door opened, but this time not into another hallway. “Helmets off.” The woman at the door commanded and everyone did as they were told and stepped through the door. They both saw green for the first time since arriving here. It was a huge area, with a big opening, which was surrounded by trees. In the middle of the opening was a pedestal on which a middle-aged man stood. He had white clothes on and spoke to the many disciples that were standing before him.

When Hope recognized the man, who was standing on the pedestal, her blood ran cold and she tensed up. Shock soon turned into anger and she fixated him with her gaze, completely blending out her surroundings. The blonde wanted to take a step forward, but an arm stopped her. Echo looked at her, her eyebrows knitting in concern as she saw her like that. Hope still didn’t pay her any attention, her gaze was filled with hate and anger. 

“Where is Orlando?” The grounder whispered as she looked around. They had to find him, so everything could go as planned. Echo was occupied with looking for the man that she didn’t notice when Hope walked forward, distancing herself from the brunette further and further.

The blonde’s gaze never wavered as she stalked forward, passing various disciples on her way to Anders. She reached for the knife, that was in a pocket of her leg armor. Hope would kill him for betraying her. They made a deal and he broke it and for that he had to pay. 

Meanwhile Echo spotted Orlando, who was three rows in front of her. She wanted to make her way to him as she noticed that Hope wasn’t standing beside her anymore. Her eyes widened in shock as she looked around and saw how the blonde walked into the direction of the pedestal. Echo swiftly followed her, not too fast to not raise any suspicion. They were among the enemy after all.

When the spy reached the blonde, she was behind her and grabbed her by the wrist. “Hope.” The brunette hissed in a hushed voice and finally got the attention of the younger woman. “We are on a mission. Are you out of your mind?” Echo held her gaze and saw the sadness and anger in them. Her heart broke at the sight of it and she would have hugged her without hesitation if they weren’t surrounded by three hundred disciples.

Hope turned away from her, she pressed her lips together in anger and fixated Anders again, listening to what Echo had to say, while she concentrated hard not to cry. “Look. I know how you feel, but this is not the right time nor the right place. Think about your mom and Octavia. Think about Sky.” At that the blonde turned to her again, holding her gaze and seeing the understanding and deep love she had for her in it. Although she didn’t want to break in front of her or anyone here on Bardo, a tear rolled down her face. She understood, she had to sacrifice her revenge in order to keep her family safe.

xxxx

Once the speech was over, the women caught up with Orlando and followed him inside the building again. “We don’t have much time left. Why did you bring us there?” Hope hissed at him as soon as they rounded a corner, finally alone again

“It would’ve raised suspicion if we didn’t attend the ceremony.” He didn’t even so much as look at her as he walked down the hallway. Then he looked at his wrist. “We still have fifteen minutes left.” Orlando grumbled with a stern look on his face. 

Hope didn’t catch on with the disciple’s mood changes, she didn’t pay much attention to him or anything other, really. The only thing she had on her mind was getting her family back and jump to Sanctum to reunite with her daughter. Echo on the other hand noticed it the instant he grunted out his disapproval between the cloth that hung around his mouth, when they tied him up for the trap. He was upset that Hope killed one of his former students in order to save the brunette and again, when the blonde killed the conductor in the stone room.

Echo contemplated her next moves. If she killed him here in the hallway, they would definitely get themselves killed, so this was out of option. The brunette knew she had to kill him, or otherwise he would turn them in, she was sure about it. For now, he was their chance to get to their family and once he was useless to them, Echo would make her move.

When the trio rounded another corner, they passed a conductor and three disciples, who spoke to one another. Hope heard something that caught her interest. “Yeah, this chick is in there. She’s totally out of her mind, always mumbling the same sentence, over and over again.” The disciple continued in a mocking voice “I am not afraid.” Then all of them broke out into a fit of laughter.

“Wait.” Hope stopped and that made the other’s stop too. “She is in m-cap!” With that she stormed off into the direction of the room, which she entered all those years ago. The memory of how Octavia sat inside the chair, was still fresh in her mind.

When she entered it, there on the chair sat Octavia and just like the disciple in the hallway had said, she repeated the same sentence like a mantra. Next to her was a conductor, who was angry at her sudden entrance. “Disciple, you have no business here.”

Hope ignored him and went straight to her aunt, loosening the straps to get her out of the chair. A few seconds later Echo and Orlando entered the room. “Steve.” Orlando nodded into his direction and at the familiar face, the conductor relaxed somewhat.

“Master Orlando. I’m glad we have you back.” Then the he looked to Hope, who helped Octavia out of the chair. “I wasn’t aware that she was to be sent back to her cell already.”

Echo walked up to him and asked in a stern voice. “Her brother, where is he?” When she didn’t receive an answer, she pulled him by the collar of his robe and held a knife to his face. “Show me, or I’ll take an eye.”

“Echo, stop.” Orlando commanded, clearly fed up with her, both of them. Enough was enough, he wouldn’t tolerate their selfish and destructive behavior anymore. But the grounder didn’t listen and tightened her grip on his collar and when he nodded, she released him again.

The man made his way to the other end of the room, where a hologram display hovered in the air and showed her what happened to Bellamy. Within seconds she saw how a bomb detonated and as the smoke cleared, she saw the lifeless body of the man she once loved. A man she still considered family.

“No.” The grounder was sobbing as she stared at the display. Echo couldn’t believe he was dead. The man that showed her that she was more worth than her loyalty to the ice queen or her clan. A man that showed her how to love and be happy, now dead. She had spent five years on another planet, training and getting ready to rescue him, only to discover that he was dead? Suddenly it was hard to breath, the air around her became thin and cold and her heart broke into a thousand pieces. “That can’t be real.” Echo turned around, not believing what she had just seen. 

“Is that real?!” She screamed with anger, but the conductor didn’t even flinch, not until Echo launched forward at him. ”Raahhh!!!” The spy punched him in the face, over and over again until he fell backwards into the chair, which Octavia occupied mere seconds ago. His face a bloody mess.

“Echo! Enough!” Orlando grabbed her by the shoulder and shoved her away. “Take her and go. I don’t want to see you here ever again.” His upper lip curled upwards in disgust. He was disgusted with himself and how he could have betrayed his own people. His shepherd. For these barbaric people.

Echo’s nostrils flared in anger and her eyes became glossy as her body went into autopilot. For a split second, Orlando turned his head to look at the man, who was seated in the chair. When he turned around again, the knife that Echo still had in her hand, cut through his throat. The disciple’s hands went to the cut, as blood poured out and he stared at her wide eyed, before sinking to his knees and then finally dropping dead. 

Hope looked on in shock as she tried to support her aunt in standing upwards. She had never seen Echo like that, not once in these five years. The raw anger made her into a brutal killer and that gave Hope chills. 

The grounder then focused her attention to the conductor and wasted no time to punch him again. When she had enough, she grabbed the object above him and brought it down. “Echo, Echo, no. We need him.” Hope desperately called out, trying to stop her from killing him. But it was too late as it pierced through his body and the man coughed out blood as he took his last breath.

“We’ll never find my mother.” The blonde stared at Echo blankly, all hope was lost now. How could they find her without an inside man? It felt like a punch to the gut, Hope was struggling to support Octavia, her knees gone weak. How could Echo do this? Kill Orlando, the man they had spent five years with. The man that told stories to Sky around the fireplace. Then the other man who was their last chance to get to her mother. The younger woman felt sick to her stomach and if she had ate something the night before, she would have threw up.

Echo was breathing heavily, her whole body shock with each intake. It was like someone else took over and she could only watch on as this person brutally killed those men. In a way she was furious and angry, to see how Bellamy died here on Bardo, while she spent five years on Penance to get to him. The grounder turned around, facing Octavia and Hope but she avoided their gazes. She couldn’t bear to look at Hope, not after what she’d done. She jeopardized their whole mission, after she stopped Hope out there to not kill Anders. Echo felt like a hypocrite and she didn’t want to see the anger and disappointment in the blonde’s eyes. Her emotions were all over the place and she didn’t need a reminder that she fucked up.

“We still have five minutes left.” With that the spy went to Octavia’s side and slung her arm around her shoulder, helping Hope in supporting the weak woman. Then she pulled her helmet on and Hope followed suit, sensing that she was avoiding her gaze. Under the safety of the helmet, Echo let a tear roll down her cheek. A tear that held the love she had for Bellamy, a special member of her found family.

When they stepped outside, they hurried through the hallway, trying to get to the cellblocks and find Diyoza as fast as possible. Time was running out and if they didn’t hurry, they would never make it before shift change. As they rounded a corner, they saw a person in guard uniform fight disciples and in a split of a second a knife was thrown into their direction, planting itself into Hope’s helmet. When the person ran into their direction, Hope recognized her. It was her mom, who didn’t age a day. For her it was only a few weeks, but for the blonde years had passed.

Hope pulled her helmet off and breathed out “Mom?” At that Diyoza stopped abruptly, not believing what was happening right now. 

She looked at the blonde, recognizing her and took her face into her hands. “Hope.” Finally, able to touch her again, she took her into her arms and both held each other tightly. After years of not seeing or holding her mom, Hope was finally reunited with her again. Sobbing and smiling, she breathed in the unmistakable scent of her mother.

“Stone room is this way.” Echo adjusted her grip she had on Octavia and nodded into the direction the stone room was. Still not looking at them, she took a few steps forward, leaving Octavia’s side. Of course she was happy that Hope finally reunited with her mother and Octavia, but what was with her? She had lost Bellamy and although they weren’t together anymore and Echo had a family with Hope that she loved so damn much, it still hurt her. Like a stab in the heart.

Mother and daughter broke apart, still smiling at the sheer joy they felt at seeing each other again. When Diyoza saw the dark look on Octavia’s face she knitted her eyebrows together in concern. “What’s wrong?”

“Bellamy is dead.” She gulped, trying to get rid of the imaginary lump in her throat. The younger Blake saw it with her own eyes, but to talk about it made it more real.

“Come here.” Hope pulled her into her and all three hugged and touched foreheads. The blonde wanted to stay in this embrace, but she knew that they couldn’t stay here forever and so they quickly departed again, following the grounder.

The way to the stone room was spent in silence and thankfully there were no guards who crossed their paths. Just when they stood in front of the door that lead to the room, an alarm blasted through the air, indicating that the enemy knew they were on the run. Suddenly a dozen disciples, both in front and behind them, made themselves visible. “Your escape ends here.”


	8. We are ready to fight with you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “But you’re my child!” Diyoza raised her voice, finally fed up with the unspoken words between them and showed her anger now. “It’s not your job to rescue me, I was coming for you.” She pointed her finger at Hope again, making her flinch slightly at the unexpected movement. “Now, you gonna rot in here with me until they execute us! But hey, at least we get to die together.”
> 
> “You’re just mad, because I turned out to be a killer like you.” Hope used sarcasm to mask how hurt she was. Hurt about how her mother still treated her like a goddamn child. She understood why she was upset at her and she understood how she felt. Oh, how much she understood. If it was Sky, she would have reacted the same way probably. Seeing how the hit had landed like a punch to the gut and how the anger in her mother’s face turned into a completely other emotion, into sadness, made the blonde feel guilty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this chapter is purely canon and I only added my own thoughts as to what the character felt in this situation. Have fun reading :)

They put them into cells as pairs, Octavia with Echo and Hope with Diyoza. They were lucky that they weren’t killed on the spot for what they had done since arriving here. The disciples had a use for them to let them live. For what, they didn’t know, but for now they could breathe again and plan their next step.

Several minutes passed since Hope was thrown into a cell with her mother. Several minutes of her banging on the door and calling out for the brunette. “Echo!”

“Echo’s the one who taught you to fight?” Diyoza sat on the mattress, keeping her face blank. Inside she was seething, feeling angry and upset about the situation they found themselves in. Helpless and without any other way to escape.

“No, my father did that.” 

“Did he now?” Clearly the blonde didn’t mean her real father. Diyoza never mentioned him to her, he was a psychopathic asshole and she was glad that Clarke killed him back then.

“Dev, a disciple prisoner who showed up six months after you left.” She spitted out bitterly. Surely it wasn’t her mother’s fault that the disciples came and took her away, but she was angry and needed to let it out. Fifteen years of shoving it away, never able to talk it out with her and now, that they were finally reunited, she could let it out.

The older woman understood the anger her daughter had inside her heart. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath as she answered “I suppose I should be grateful for that.” And really, she was grateful that this man took her daughter in and raised her when she couldn’t. What would’ve become of Hope if this man didn’t show up? Diyoza didn’t want to dwell any longer on this dark thought and she didn’t have the chance when Hope continued.

“He was a good man.” Thinking back to the night she hesitated to kill the disciple and causing the death of her father. Although five years had passed and she talked about it with Echo and Echo tried to make her see that it wasn’t her fault, Hope still felt guilty. That’s why she killed the conductor although it wasn’t necessary. Hesitation was death, Echo taught her that.

“Was?” Diyoza wanted to know more about her daughter. A daughter she hadn’t seen in weeks. A daughter that was ten years old when she left, now an adult and scarred for life. It broke her heart and made her all the more upset and angrier at how helpless she felt right now.

Hope wasn’t ready to talk about it now, her heart still ached from the pain and she didn’t want to break in front of her mother. She wanted to make her see how strong she got, even without her in her life. She wanted to make her see that she was not the child anymore, she had left behind. “Ok.” The blonde stood up and away from the door. “Next time this door opens, we attack from each side.” 

Diyoza stood up as well, now standing behind her daughter who was facing the door, back to her. “They come in hot and with numbers. Bad plan.” 

“Ok, then tell me how the hell you got out the last time.” Hope turned around, letting her anger take over again. She was not sure why she reacted like that. Maybe because of how her mother treated her. Diyoza knew nothing about what she was capable of and here she was treating her like a child. This and the fact that she was still angry at how her life was being turned upside down when her mother was ripped away from her.

“That’s dishes, young lady.” She pointed her finger at her as shock showed on the middle-aged woman’s face, at hearing her daughter swear. 

“Oh mom, I’m serious.” A frown made itself visible on the blonde’s face, irritated at how comforting the nickname felt after all those years. But she wasn’t about to admit it and instead she continued to ask her how she escaped the last time.

Her mother hesitated for a few seconds, contemplating if she should really tell her the truth. The ugly truth. “I ripped a man’s jugular out with my teeth.” She distanced herself from Hope, because she didn’t want to see the look on her face or else it would break her. “And scooped his eye out and used it on the retinal scanner.” Hope was surprised at what her mother told her. Things the blonde couldn’t even imagine doing to someone. Although she would probably do the same in that situation if that means that she could be reunited with her own daughter again. Before Sky could occupied her mind further, Diyoza continued, now facing Hope. “It won’t work again. I was on my way to Octavia and then back to Skyring. Why did you come here?”

What kind of question was this? She trained for years to rescue her mother and she wasn’t even thankful for it? “To save you.”

“I know your heart was in the right place, but-“

“But?”

“But you’re my child!” Diyoza raised her voice, finally fed up with the unspoken words between them and showed her anger now. “It’s not your job to rescue me, I was coming for you.” She pointed her finger at Hope again, making her flinch slightly at the unexpected movement. “Now, you gonna rot in here with me until they execute us! But hey, at least we get to die together.”

“You’re just mad, because I turned out to be a killer like you.” Hope used sarcasm to mask how hurt she was. Hurt about how her mother still treated her like a goddamn child. She understood why she was upset at her and she understood how she felt. Oh, how much she understood. If it was Sky, she would have reacted the same way probably. Seeing how the hit had landed like a punch to the gut and how the anger in her mother’s face turned into a completely other emotion, into sadness, made the blonde feel guilty. 

Meanwhile in the other cell, Octavia and Echo had their own heart to heart talk. Although it mostly consisted of Echo laying on her mattress, silently crying while her back faced the Blake. “I miss him too.”

“I don’t wanna talk.” The brunette sniffed out. She didn’t care that Octavia saw her like that. Echo was crying not only for Bellamy, but also for Hope. Because of her outburst she got themselves captured and now the love of her life will get executed. Sky will never see her parents again and it was all her fault. 

“I know you’re in pain, Echo. I feel it.” 

Octavia matured over the years she spent on Skyring, that much was clear. She wasn’t Skairipa or Bloodreina anymore, she wasn’t the woman who banished Echo to her death, but the grounder still didn’t understand why she was so nice to her. “So what? Are we friends now? I’m the monster from Hope’s bedtime stories, remember?” And in the end, she herself proofed that she really was a monster.

“Echo, we’ve all done things we wish we can take back.” Octavia stood up and made her way to the spy. “When Lincoln died, I beat my brother and he let me. I wish I could take that moment back.” Then she hugged the other woman, despite the angry look on Echo’s face and despite the fact, that she could punch her in the face for that. “I wish I hugged him instead.”

“Let go of me.” Echo threatened her, but Octavia refused to let her go. Despite how much Echo struggled against her grip, she only hugged her tighter until the grounder gone limp against her. Crying into her shoulder, she let Octavia comfort her. When Echo leaned back, Octavia rested her forehead against hers and she realized from who Hope got it from.

“You’re my family too.”

“What else do you know?” Diyoza was seated at the table, while her daughter was sitting on the mattress. After they talk, an hour went by without neither of them saying a word. The air between them was too tense, but now that they both cooled down somewhat, she wanted to know how much she knew about her past. “I take it Echo said I was a killer, I’m asking how much do you know.”

“It doesn’t matter.” And really, it didn’t matter for the blonde. She grew up with a loving mother and after she spent five years with Echo and Gabriel, they told her about how her mother was before becoming a mother. The grounder didn’t want to tell her at first, but the blonde insisted and so Gabriel told her instead. Seeing her mother in another light, she didn’t admire and loved her less. Hope understood that she did what she did, because she believed in changing the world. And honestly? It was in the past now.

“It does to me.” The older woman wasn’t looking at her daughter, too afraid of what she could see in her face or eyes that would break her heart. Hope sensed the insecurity she gave off and made her way to the table, sitting at the opposite site, facing her.

“Gabriel told me.” She smiled, propping up her elbow on the table. “He said you were a navy seal and a decorated hero, who saved thousands of lives in the battle of San Francisco.” At hearing her daughter saying she was a hero and not a killer, made her feel happy. Diyoza leaned forward and cupped her daughter’s cheek, stroking it with her thumb. Then Hope continued. “Before becoming a freedom fighter.” At that Diyoza stopped her movements and dropped her hand to her side.

“You mean terrorist. He said terrorist, right?” It was too good to be true. The former prime told her daughter everything and now that she knew, she didn’t want to upset her mother and tried to blandish the truth.

“What difference does it make?” For Hope it didn’t make any, because it didn’t change a thing. She still idolized her mother, no matter if she had done terrible things in the past.

“All the difference.” Her mother whispered before standing up, going to the other side of the room, back facing Hope. “God, I hate that you know that.”

“Were you gonna tell me?”

“Sure eventually, when you were old enough.” Diyoza turned around, not sure about that statement but she said it nonetheless.

“I’m twenty-five.” Hope stood up swiftly and smiled, then when she saw the painted look on her mother’s face, it dropped.

“To me you’re not.” The older woman whispered. Her heart ached at how much she had missed out on. So many years Hope had to spent without her and this thought made her heart ache so damn much. “From the first time you looked at me with those big brown eyes, you only saw mommy, but other people, they see a killer. A mass murderer. A terrorist.” At that, Hope’s expression softened and she had to think about her own daughter again. For her she had killed and she didn’t know what she would do if her daughter would find out and look at her differently. “I knew if you ever looked at me like that, my heart would break into a thousand pieces.” Diyoza finished and leaned her head against the cold wall, closing her eyes as she imagined the look of a disgusted Hope.

“I don’t.” The blonde approached her. “Now I know you’re trying to do the right thing.”

“Doing the right thing the wrong way isn’t doing the right thing. I know that now. Innocent people died for my right thing. Civilians. Children.” Hope’s expression hardened, she set her jaw at hearing how her mother beat herself up for the mistakes she had done in the past. “And for what? Earth got blown up. Twice. You can thank your real father for that by the way.” Diyoza moved passed Hope.

“You never mentioned my father before.” The blonde was surprised that her mother finally did, she grew up with the thought of never having a father.

“How much do you wanna know?”

“Everything.” Her daughter choked out, she was surprised at the change of topic and couldn’t believe that she finally got to learn more about her real father.

“He was a psychopath and a cold-blooded killer. I had sex with him to get him on my side in an uprising on the mining ship. Not my best decision.” Hope stared at her mother with watery eyes. Finally, she gets to know something about her father, only to learn that he was a bad person, maybe even worse than the disciples here on Bardo. On top of that, she wasn’t born out of love, no, she existed because her mother wanted an advantage. Hope felt like she lost her grip on a railing and was falling. 

“But it let to the best thing that ever happened to me.” This did make feel the blonde a little better and eased the bad feeling that planted itself in her stomach. “And you’re right, the last thing I want is for you to follow in my footsteps. Everyone I’ve ever loved was killed fighting in wars and I’m not gonna let that happen to you!”

“So what?” Hope broke her silence. She couldn’t believe that her mother was giving up so soon. “We stay here? Do nothing?” The woman who everyone told her was a total badass and she saw it with her own eyes when she killed those three disciples in the hallway. Now this woman was not ready to fight anymore and rather sit around instead. No, the blonde didn’t want to accept his, she spent too many years preparing for that moment. “I trained for fifteen years under two disciples, the last five of them were with Echo. I did that to save you and aunty O.”

“Hell of a job you did.” Diyoza countered back. If her daughter really trained so many years, she didn’t do it right it seems.

“You’re alive, aren’t you? So is she.” The blonde spit out, baring her teeth. How dare she criticize her? How dare she, after all she had endured and gone through to come here?

“Sure, until we’re not!” 

At that Hope seethed with anger and moved passed her mother to reach the door “If they wanna kill us, then let them try-.” 

Her mother stopped her by gabbing her arm. “Hope don’t be stupid. What you gonna do? Take on an entire army?”

“If we have to.” What was wrong with her mother now? She had no problems with fighting three disciples at once and now she shied away? The blonde couldn’t understand why. “With Octavia, Echo, you and me, I like our chances.” They all were highly trained and with combined forces she was sure that they could kill anyone who got in their way and make it back to Sanctum.

“You say you’re not a child. Stop talking like one.” This statement hit a nerve and her mother knew it. “You want to take on an entire army?” Diyoza circled her daughter until she stood behind her, so Hope had to turn around. “Tell you what. Put me on my ass and I’ll let you.” At that Hope had to scoff. Of course, she could easily overpower her mother, she was sure that she was better trained than her by now. “Go ahead, take your best shot.”

“I don’t wanna hurt you.” Hope looked her mother up and down. What didn’t she understand when she told her that she trained fifteen years of her life under two disciples and with Echo on top of it?

“It’s ok, I can take it.” The older woman roughly pushed her daughter away to animate her and soon they were fighting.

Hope wanted to land a punch, but her mother grabbed her by the arm and shoved her away, mocking her as she did. “Come on, is that all you got?” She wanted to test how she reacted in emotional situations, testing her if she could control herself to focus on the fight. The blonde took the bait and played right into her hands. She let her anger overtake her and soon she threw one punch after the other, every single one of them were blocked by the older woman. Diyoza threw her off balance and Hope stumbled backwards. “Come on little one, next time that door opens we attack, right?” She pointed to the door and blocked yet another fist of her daughter. When she got sick of only blocking, she slapped her across the face, earning a painted and surprised hiss from Hope. The younger woman saw the opportunity to land a kick and she took it, but her mother foresaw it and grabbed her leg midair and threw her off her feet. Hope hit the floor hard, but got up quickly, ready to continue fighting. “You’re having fun yet?” Diyoza continued to mock her, knowing that this was what threw her off and soon the blonde was so enraged that she didn’t focus, only throwing one punch after the other, until her mother seized her. She stood behind her, squeezing her arm around her neck, making the blonde gasp out as she struggled to fill her lungs with air.

“No stop! Violence and rage will only destroy your soul.” As she felt how Hope stopped struggling against her, she loosened her grip. “Revenge is a game with no winners and we’ve lost too much already.” By now the first sobs rocked through Hope’s body and both sank to the floor. Diyoza still held her tight and rocked her in her arms.

“Just disappeared. Just like that you were gone.” At those words the older woman wanted to cry too, but she had to stay strong for her daughter. “Out of nowhere. Just gone.” Hope choked out and the first tears were threatening to fall down her cheeks. “All I wanna do is go back to the way things were, but we can’t. They took my mommy away.” The blonde cried out as tears spilled from her eyes and she turned around, still in the embrace, to bury her head into her mother’s chest. “They took my mommy.” She sobbed uncontrollably, while her mother held her tightly and rocked her in her arms.

“I know little one. That’s why I can’t lose you again. I can’t and I won’t.” She rocked her daughter as if she was the little girl she had left behind. In this moment she wasn’t twenty-five, in this moment Hope was ten years old again.

Octavia laid on the table, legs up in the air against the wall as she read a book. She couldn’t concentrate, reading the same sentence over and over again, never really comprehending it. Her mind was on something else. The woman laid the book down against her chest and began to vocalize her thoughts to her cell mate. “Something's different. There’s plenty of cells but they put us together. They’re feeding us. We have blankets. Why?” 

The short-haired woman had her back to Octavia. “Do you know why azgeda warriors scarred their own faces?” Then she stood up, back still facing the other woman.

Octavia got concerned at the grim tone in her voice as she said it and stood up from the table. “E-Echo?”

The woman in question held the amethyst Hope gave her, it was drenched in black, her blood. When Echo turned around, her face was painted in black as well. She had carved a half circle into her skin with the sharp end of the stone, on each side on her temple. A traditional azgeda scar. 

“We do it to symbolize that the pain is over.” Octavia looked on in shock as blood dripped down Echo’s face, along her throat to finally land on her grey shirt. “The wound is healed, so that we never forget.” The azgeda woman breathed out between her teeth, relishing in the sharp pain she felt. She scarred herself for Echo, her best friend, for her clan that no longer existed and she scarred herself for Bellamy. The man, who she had to thank for so many things. Without him, she wasn’t even sure what kind of person would have become of her and if she was even able to love Hope and Sky the same way as she did now.

“Sit down and let me call you a-“

“No. Orlando told us that all they cared about is their last war.” The taller woman made her way to the door and pulled the necklace over her head again, concealing the stone under her shirt. “They want us to fight with them. That’s why it’s different.” She answered the questions the younger Blake had voiced out earlier. “We’re not prisoners. We’re recruits.” Then she pounded on the door and called out. “We’re ready to fight with you!”

“Please, this is crazy.” Octavia said in a soft voice and tried to grab her by the arm, but Echo jerked her arm away from the Blake’s touch. Just then the door opened, like Echo expected it would. She stepped outside the cell and into the hallway, followed by a surprised Octavia.

As Echo strode down the hall, behind her and Octavia were two of the guards, who followed their every steps. The duo came to a stop when they met Hope and Diyoza, who’s cell door opened at the same time as theirs.

Hope was shocked to see her lovers face drenched in blood, blood that still dripped down her face. “Echo…” The blonde blurted out in concern as she rushed to her side. Just as she wanted to examine her face, the brunette held her at arm’s length and ignored the hurt look on Hope’s face.

Anders walked into their direction, pleased to hear that the prisoners wanted to aid them in the last war. When he saw one of the women named Echo, his face showed confusion as to why someone would harm themselves.

“This is how my people show they’re ready to go to war.” She looked ahead of her, a blank expression on her face. The spy got back to her old self, someone who never showed emotions to not make themselves vulnerable.

“Mmmmh. I’m glad to hear that.” Anders spoke out, still with an irritated expression, but he accepted it. “Do the rest of you agree with Echo?” The head of the disciples looked at the women expectantly and when he received nods he continued. “The last war will free us all. Training starts tomorrow. We’ll make disciples of you, yet.”


	9. Playing games

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The blonde thought that they were free now and could go back to their rooms, but that wasn’t the case. Levitt and Anders lead them to another floor and Hope rolled her eyes in annoyance as they wandered through the hallways again. Hallways that looked the same. Cold and solid stones, greyish in color. Hope wished she was back on Skyring, where she could feel the wind on her face and how the dirt felt under her naked toes. Where she was happy with Echo and her daughter. She was so close to be happy again, this time with her mom and aunt added to the picture. The only thing that hindered them to leave was Anders. The man with that stupid face and his stupid grin. She wanted to punch him in the face every time she saw him.

When Anders walked away from them, Hope wanted to run after him and snap his neck. Instead she settled to follow him with her death stare, until he rounded a corner. Only then the blonde turned to Echo again. The grounder was still avoiding her gaze and pretend she wasn’t there. Hope was not only upset at that, but angry too. Before she could address her though, the four guards that surrounded them signaled them to follow.

The women walked with them for what felt like an eternity, rounding one corner after the other in the endless hallways of Bardo, until they finally stopped. On either side of them was a door. “Those are your bedrooms for the time of your staying. Two of you will share one room.” With that the guards walked away, just like Anders did before, leaving the women alone.

“I hope they have more comfort than our previous rooms.” Octavia mumbled as she touched the switch on the wall and the door opened, revealing a big and open space with a queen size bed. She looked at the others and raised an eyebrow in amusement.

“One bed for two people. Talk about getting cuddly.” Diyoza added, her statement dripped of sarcasm.

Hope looked at Echo then, who still wasn’t paying her any attention. She wanted to talk to her alone and just as she could suggest that she and her would share a room, Echo beat her to it. “Blake, you and me will share a room.” The grounder got passed Octavia and into the room.

It felt like someone gripped her heart and squeezed it tight. Pain wasn’t even a word to describe how the blonde felt right now. She had to remind herself to breath as tears welled up in her eyes and they started to burn as she forced herself not to blink, so they wouldn’t spill.

“Hope, what is it?” Diyoza looked at her daughter in concern and touched her shoulder.

“Nothing.” The blonde assured her mother with a smile and turned around, hitting the switch a little too hard. When the door opened, she went inside and headed straight for the bathroom, that was separated from the bedroom through a door.

Although Hope had cried her eyes out in her mother’s embrace, new tears fell down her cheeks and she let them. Did Echo have any idea how much she was hurting her? And if so, how could she do it without hurting as well? Bellamy’s death shock the brunette to her core and all Hope wanted to do right now, was be there for her. Comforting her. But Echo rejected her, refused to look at her and avoided every attempt of the blonde.

After twenty minutes she came out of the bathroom. Her tears had stopped and she dried her cheeks carefully as to not make her face more puffy then it already was. Her eyes were still somewhat swollen though, a clear indication that she had been crying.

“You wanna talk about it?” Her mother sat on the bed, hand clasped together in her lap. She looked at Hope expectantly.

“About what?” The blonde cracked a smile and tried to act as if everything was fine.

At that Diyoza had to scoff. “You and Echo.” Hope’s mouth was agape, like a fish on land trying to breath air. She wasn’t expecting that. “Oh, come on. Don’t act so surprised.” 

The blonde closed her mouth again and swallowed. “How did you know?” She went to sit next to her mother, head hung low as she fidgeted with her hands.

“I’ve seen the looks you give her.” The older woman turned her head to look at her daughter, then she chuckled, which got her the attention of the blonde. “Of all people it had to be her?”

“I love her, mom.” Hope blurted out in her defense. “And she loves me.” She continued in a small voice. Yes, they loved each other. Having spent five years on Skyring and raising a daughter together, their daughter, showed them that they couldn’t live without the other. They needed one another to survive, like you need air to breath or water to drink. They pulled each other in like magnets, one of them was always surrounding the other, like the moon the earth. They were meant to be.

“If that’s how she shows her love, you should reconsider-“ Diyoza stopped herself as she heard the quiet sobs that came from her daughter. She hugged her as best as they position allowed her. It hurt her to see Hope like that, now she wasn’t the one to blame, but the spy next door. In this moment the older woman made up her mind, that if she would catch Echo alone, she would give her the most terrifying shovel talk in history. 

The next morning came slowly, after a dreamless night. When an alarm broke the silence of their shared bedroom, Hope inhaled sharply and turned her head to the side to look at her mother. Both of them didn’t sleep much and they knew that the other was awake, but they pretended that this wasn’t the case. When their eyes met, Diyoza was the first to break the silence between them since yesterday.

“This is it then. We will play their game and when we have the opportunity, we will get the hell away from here.” As she received a nod from her daughter, the older woman stood up and made her way to the bathroom.

When the door closed behind her mother, the alarm stopped and Hope turned her head to look at the ceiling. She had her hands clasped together on her stomach and thought back to yesterday’s events. Maybe Echo only needed a little space and Hope was more than willing to give it to her. The blonde then swung her legs out of the bed and with one swift movement, she stood up and made her way to the door. “I’ll be right back.” She called out to her mother and went out the room.

When she found herself in the hallway, she stared at the door of Octavia’s and Echo’s room. Taking a few steps forward, she raised her fist to knock on it. After a few seconds, the door opened and in front of her stood her aunt.

“Good morning, Hope.” She greeted her niece with a warm smile. The Blake scanned the hallway for Diyoza and when she didn’t find her, she asked Hope where she was.

“She is still in our room.” The younger woman cleared her throat and continued. “Is Echo with you?”

“Yeah, she’s under the shower.”

“Can I…” Hope hugged herself and looked at the floor. “Could you give us a moment alone? I’d like to talk to her.” She looked up and saw how Octavia’s eyebrows rose up.

“I suppose spending five years together made you close.” Her aunt stated more than asked and when Hope nodded, she stepped aside to let her in. “I’ll go and check on your mom.” Octavia left the room and the door closed behind her.

Hope looked around, noticing that all the rooms here on Bardo must look the same. When her ears picked up the noise of the shower, she made her way to the bathroom. Hand on the door handle, Hope took a deep breath, stealing herself. The blonde quietly opened it and stepped inside. A thick and warm fog greeted her and the noise of water hitting tiles got louder. She could make out a figure behind the blurry glass of the shower, who’s back faced her. Hope stripped herself from all her clothes as fast and quietly as she could muster and opened the glass door to step inside.

Echo seemed to not have noticed the newcomer as she still had her eyes closed. When Hope hugged her from behind, she was startled and tensed up, but the familiarity of the blonde’s naked body against her own, made her relax quickly. The brunette turned around and came face to face with her.

“Ech-“ But Hope didn’t had the chance to finish, as Echo spun her around. The brunette pressed her against the shower wall, while pinning her wrists above the blonde’s head, with one hand. The grounder immediately attacked her mouth, kissing her roughly and the younger woman submitted completely. Hope was so distracted by the hungry kiss, that she didn’t notice how Echo’s other hand sneaked between her legs, not until those fingers made contact with her folds. She let out a moan that was muffled by Echo’s mouth. When the brunette pumped two fingers inside her without warning, the blonde threw her head back and screamed out. The pain of being stretched so suddenly soon turned into pleasure as Echo held up a steady pace. Hope felt everything in this moment. The warm water that hit her skin, Echo’s naked and wet body, which was pressed against her own and of course, the two fingers inside her. Both women looked each other in the eye and that was enough to make Hope come undone. Throughout her aftershocks, Echo leaned her forehead against Hope’s as she released her wrists.

The grounder wordlessly stepped out of the shower and started to dry herself off. She was already starting to get dressed when Hope turned off the water and stepped out as well, needing a little time to regain her strength again. The blonde opened her mouth, making an attempt to say something when the brunette threw her a fresh towel. “You should hurry, training starts in a few.” With that Echo left the room, shirt and shoes in hand as she hurried away from her.

Hope looked down at the towel and frowned. What was this hot and cold behavior the other woman showed? First, she avoided her, then she fucked her and now she avoided her again. Hope was tired of this game.

xxxx

Inside the training room, a man named Levitt greeted them. He was the conductor that told Octavia how to bypass m-cap. “Please, take your shoes off and stretch your muscles to get ready for training.” He insisted politely.

The women did as they were told and Octavia and Echo started to stretch on the matt in the middle of the room. Hope moved around aimlessly, then she came to a stop in front of a wall that held various knives, swords and axes. She eyed them and contemplated if she should just take a blade and slit Levitt’s throat, like she threatened him the first time they met. The blonde couldn’t dwell any longer on that thought when she heard her mother talk.

“And now you’re our trainer? You always have so many jobs.”

“I’m only involved because of my knowledge of…from the m-cap and clearly this isn’t a normal situation. Anders himself will lead the training, something he never does.”

“Oh, lucky us.” Hope turned around, hands on her hips as a sarcastic smile was plastered on her face. She leaned herself against the wall then, arms crossed as she watched how Echo stretched. How her neck muscles flexed and how good she looked while doing so.

When the door opened and Anders walked inside, everyone quieted down and looked at him. Behind him four other people followed and Hope looked at them with interest, as she joined her mother to stand on the matt. “These are your new training partners. For the next twelve weeks, you’ll eat, sleep and train with them and with no one else. Give everything to the group.” Anders then held his hands up, all of them but the four women followed suit. “For all mankind.” Then he turned to his new trainees and continued. “We start with some simple sparring. Please, choose your partner.”

Hope walked around, bored expression on her face and looked one of their new training partners up and down as they both silently agreed to spar with one another. When they heard Anders command that they may begin, the blonde immediately strode forwarded and attacked him. She twisted his arm, flipping him over and he landed on the matt with a thud. Still holding his twisted arm, she looked at Anders with a smug expression on her face. “I was trained by a level twelve. What else do you got?” Then she released the man and took a step back

“Orlando taught you well. It’s not surprising, I was his mentor.”

“Huh, it’s a shame he had to die.” Thinking back to yesterday and how Echo killed him in cold blood.

“He was one of our best.” Anders face showed no emotion as he observed the blonde. “I believe Dev had a hand in your training as well?” When Hope heard his name, she froze and the guilt she felt threatened to bubble to the surface. “Answer me trainee. Wasn’t Dev your surrogate father?”

“I’m not gonna talk about it with you.” The woman shook her head. How dare he bring this up? Anders knew that this hit a nerve and he shamelessly used it to hurt her.

“Well then perhaps you’re not ready yet.” Anders wanted to continue when Echo’s voice cut him off.

“Are we here to talk or fight? Sir.” The grounder observed the situation and now was the right moment to step in. Echo stood beside Hope protectively, as the blonde’s chin wobbled. The younger woman took a deep breath and willed herself not to cry again. She had done that too much lately.

“Have you made a note of these responses, Mr. Levitt?”

“Yes, sir. May I speak with you?” Anders nodded and they walked off to the corner of the room to talk in private.

Echo then turned to Hope and made an attempted to touch her shoulder, but the blonde stepped aside and went to join Diyoza and Octavia. Two can play this game.

After they had trained for an hour, Levitt escorted them to the elevator. Once inside, he pressed a button that would lead them to a lower floor.

“Where are we going?” Octavia asked the man beside him as the elevator went down.

The man then looked at her with a smile and a glint in his eyes. “I will show you our way of living. What we do and that we aren’t the bad guys you think we are.”

A scoff could be heard in the back. It was Hope who very well knew what they were capable of. Stealing the mother and aunt of a little girl and torturing them for information was what they did. These are not the actions of good people. The elevator stopped and its doors opened, before Hope could blurt out a sarcastic remark.

Levitt led the way down the hallway, a hallway that looked like any other hallway here on Bardo. When he came to a stop in front of a door, he turned around. “Please, after you.” He touched the switch and the door opened.

It was a big and long hall in which various tanks stood in two rows. Many of them held embryos and babies of various stadiums of development. When the women stepped inside the room, all of them had a surprised and weirded out expression on their faces.

“I hope the training went well.” Anders greeted them, then he gestured around with his hand. “Please, take a look.”

As the women stepped closer, they saw how the tanks were filled with a liquid and that the umbilical cord was connected to a tube. Hope rested her arms on the table, on which the tank stood and leaned forward to get a better look. It was bizarre to see an embryo like this. The way it was bend and how its fingers only now developed. Is this how Sky looked like while she was pregnant with her?

“No morning sickness. Sign me up.” Diyoza mused and observed the same embryo like her daughter.

“Me too.” Hope whispered, totally consumed in her staring as she remembered the time when she had to throw up so much. 

Her mother turned to her with wide eyes the moment those words left the blonde’s mouth. Diyoza thought she didn’t hear that right but just as she wanted to ask her, Anders spoke. “No negative effects on a woman’s health in any way. And we can monitor the embryos in extracorporeal gestational systems on birth defects and correct them before they are born.”

Octavia and Echo, who stood in front of another tank, looked at each other with a weirded-out expression. They only understood half of it, but agreed silently that no one should have that much power and intervene into nature, playing literally god.

“Please.” Levitt beckoned them to come to a tank, which held a fully developed baby. “She had a heart defect, but it was surgically corrected three weeks ago. Now she’s perfect and about ready to be birthed.” Hope thought about her daughter again and when she looked at Echo, they eyes met. She saw that the grounder missed their daughter too. It was hard, because they were never seperated from her and now that they were, it weighted heavy on their hearts. “I know it must seem strange, but the fact that you grew inside your mother’s body is equally as bizarre to us.” He continued, wanting to make them see that, despite their differences, they could find a common ground.

Although Diyoza wanted to ask her daughter about the “me too” from before, she settle for another way to break the awkward silence that had settled between them, after Levitt finished his speech. She would talk to her later, when they were alone. “You did kick the hell out of my kidneys.” Hope turned to her mother, breaking eye contact with Echo.

“Exactly.” Anders nodded, taking the lead of conversation again after being quiet for so long. “Do you know how many embryos we have?” When nobody gave him an answer he continued. “Twenty-five. The same numbers of disciples that you have murdered.” At that Echo’s gaze found Hope’s again and the blonde thought for a split of a second that she saw regret and guilt in them. It was gone again and replaced with a cold and calculated stare.

“If you need as many warriors as possible, then why not just hatch a larger army?” Octavia asked.

“Resources. It’s a limited world.”

“And you can only mind-control so many.” The blonde blurted out, daring Anders to say something to that, but before it could come to that, her mother stepped in. Hope didn’t follow the conversation anymore, her thoughts were all over the place and she had enough of this bullshit. They tried to make themselves seem like harmless good people, but they weren’t. There are no good people here, not even she was good anymore. She had killed. The first time it was strange and Hope’s heart felt heavy from the life she had taken, but she would’ve done it again to protect Echo. The second time, it was much easier and the adrenaline she felt from it was satisfying. It made her afraid of herself, but how could something so wrong feel so right? They disserved it for what they did and she felt good while they paid the prize. So why was she concerned about it? 

The blonde thought that they were free now and could go back to their rooms, but that wasn’t the case. Levitt and Anders lead them to another floor and Hope rolled her eyes in annoyance as they wandered through the hallways again. Hallways that looked the same. Cold and solid stones, greyish in color. Hope wished she was back on Skyring, where she could feel the wind on her face and how the dirt felt under her naked toes. Where she was happy with Echo and her daughter. She was so close to be happy again, this time with her mom and aunt added to the picture. The only thing that hindered them to leave was Anders. The man with that stupid face and his stupid grin. She wanted to punch him in the face every time she saw him.

They found themselves inside a classroom, where children already sat on chairs. The women made their way to the empty chairs behind the children and for the first time in what felt like an eternity, Echo decided to sit next to Hope, seeking out to be near her.

Anders lead the lesson and spoke about a shepherd who delivered them here, just like Orlando did back then. He asked the children about the shepherd’s journy and one girl answered him with enthusiasm. She must have been not older than eight years and Hope set her jaw as she thought about Sky again. Lately everything reminded Hope of her and her heart ached more and more, the longer she spent time apart from her. 

Suddenly she felt Echo’s hand brush against her own. The blonde looked down and saw how the brunette interlaced their pinkies, but when she turned to look at her, Echo pretended to pay attention to what Anders had to say. A feeling expanded inside her chest, filling her body with warmth as she felt how her lover squeezed her pinky. It was a silent promise that they would make it out of here, all of them, and reunite with Sky and Gabriel again.

“…perhaps we have the honor of Mr. Anders leading us in our exercise?” The words of a teacher, Hope hadn’t notice before, snapped her out of her daydreaming and Echo dropped her hand. The blonde already missed the contact.

“My pleasure.” Anders smiled and took a deep breath before addressing the class. “Ok. Close your eyes.” He closed his eyes and the children obeyed immediately. Octavia, Diyoza and Echo did it too, except Hope, who fixated Anders with her death glare again. She drove her tongue over her teeth as anger replaced the warm feeling, she felt from Echo’s touch. “Everyone.” The man returned the glare as best as he could and the blonde closed her eyes now too. The better she cooperated the faster this shit could be over. “Now, take a deep breath. Hold and let it out at the count of three.” He began to say a prayer with the children together.

Echo opened her eyes to look at Hope and as she saw how the blonde had her eyes open too, she looked around to see if no one else was looking. Everyone, including Anders had their eyes closed, so the brunette reached out and touched the blonde’s knee. Hope turned her head and saw the expecting look on Echo’s face. A silent pleading to forget her anger and hate and do what those people demand from them. The spy   
quickly took her hand away and closed her eyes again, trusting Hope to do the same.

“Now.” Anders opened his eyes again and looked into Hope’s. “Open your eyes and breathe. Excellent.” The man praised the children as he turned around to thank the teacher for having them here.

The lesson was over and so the woman stood up and made their way to the door. “This is some serious brainwashing.” Hope breathed out as she stood behind Echo, who had to wait until Octavia stood up.

“These kids had it better than I ever did.” The brunette turned her head to answer the blonde. Of course, it was brainwashing, but they were fed, had it warm and were treated decent. Those things couldn’t be said of the Ice Nation and its queen, who forces children to kill and who closed their eyes when a whole village starved to death. It was brutal but Echo survived it, it only made her stronger. Her heart became cold as ice, until Bellamy showed her that there was more out there to live for and Hope, who quickly melted and softened her heart. She would do anything to not lose someone she loves to these people, not again.


	10. The plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow this is the longest chapter I've written in my life. It's basically 2.5 chapters haha  
> Enjoy!

It was way past midnight as the blonde tossed and turned in her bed. On her skin was a light sheen of sweat, as she whimpered and moaned in her sleep. The blanket was a mess around her legs and middle and although the other parts of her body were exposed to the cool air in the room, she felt as if she was overheating. Her eyebrows knitted together as her whole face contorted in pain, while she dreamed of how her aunty O had left her inside the hiding place. They had left her there, her mom and her aunt. Both of them just vanished one night and didn’t come back. Hope saw herself as a little child, cowered together, hugging herself as fear overtook her little body and the first sobs rocked through her. Then the face of herself morphed into the face of her daughter. Now it was Sky who was crying, afraid and alone. “Mom…Nomon…” The little girl whimpered out into the void of the dark cabin.

Hope’s eyes opened in an instant as she leaned forward and breathed heavily. The blonde tossed the blanket aside, she was sweating and the cool air that hit her exposed legs was a relief. When she turned her head to the side, willing her eyes to adjust to the darkness, she saw that the other half of the bed was empty. Chest heaving with every intake of air, she brought her hand to her face and wiped the sweat off of her brows and forehead. Hope let out a sigh as she stood up and her naked feet made contact with the cold floor. Her night attire consisted of underwear and a gray tank top, so the blonde grabbed the cargo pants from the chair, that stood in the corner of the room. Her eyes scanned around to search for her shoes and as she spotted them nearby the door; she pulled them on and made her way outside.

It was dark, expect for the little lights that hung on the ceiling. They gave off a buzzing sound and didn’t much contribute to illuminate the hallways. Hope contemplated to knock on the door of the others, but she decided against it and instead wandered through the hallways of Bardo. Now the noise of how her shoes hit the floor, every time she took a step, added to the buzz of the lights. These were the only sounds that could be heard. When Hope reached the end of the hallway, she rounded a corner and suddenly, there was something that passed by behind her. The blonde quickly turned around but there was nothing there. She must have imagined it, she thought. When she turned around again, to continue her way through Bardo, she sprang back with a cry. Hands on her chest, she tried to calm her racing heart and willed herself to breath slower.

“Ms. Diyoza, what brings you here this late?” Anders asked her with one of his unmistakable grins. He had his hands clasped behind his back as he eyed the blonde, waiting for her to catch her breath.

When Hope somewhat calmed down again, she glared at him and retorted. “I could ask you the same.”

“Sometimes I like to wander the halls. It’s quieter at night. Gives me a chance to think.” The man clicked his tongue and gestured for her to follow him, as he started to walk.

It took the blonde a few seconds to contemplate weather she should follow him or not, but in the end she did. Soon they fell into step and walked side by side in silence. After they rounded another corner, Anders started to speak again. “We are all one and the same, Hope. Transcendence is not only something that we achieve for us alone. We do it for all mankind.”

Hope had to roll her eyes at that. For her it was nonsense and she didn’t have the patience nor the time to listen to it. “You know.” The blonde stopped and Anders with her. “Why don’t you achieve this for-all-mankind-bullshit without us? Just let us go.” When she felt something cold against the skin of her forearm, she frowned. Her eyes widened for the split of a second when she realized what it was. The blonde licked her lips as she clasped her arms against her back, feeling for the knife.

“I’m afraid we can’t do that. You all will serve us well in the last war. I believe you have a daughter. Isn’t that worth fighting fo-“ He couldn’t finish as Hope lunched forward and attacked him with the knife. The blonde managed to give him a cut across the cheek, before he seized her. Now the knife was at her throat as everything faded away and a bright light swallowed her.

“You failed the fear simulation, Hope.” Levitt spoke as Hope opened her eyes. She turned to him as everything came back to her. After they left the classroom, they were led to another room, where they would undergo something similar to m-cap. It was called fear simulation and was a test for their minds.

“Where are the others?” The blonde looked around.

“They already did the test and are back in their rooms. You did the test twice, every time with the same outcome.” He shook his head in disappointment. “I suppose it is quite late, you should go too and rest.” The man said, as he looked at Hope’s data on a hologram display. 

The blonde bolted out of the room and into the hallway. The simulation felt so real. How was that possible? Then she remembered that Anders couldn’t have known about her daughter. She hasn’t told anyone, not even her mom. Echo and her agreed to keep it a secret when they get captured. The thought of them using Sky as leverage was too much to bear.

Finally, she found herself in front of her room and when she opened the door, Hope was surprised to see her mother, Echo and Octavia. “Sit down, we have to talk.” Her mother said in a stern voice, nodding her over and Hope sat beside her, on the bed. Hope felt like a little child that did something wrong and, in a way, she did. Head hung low, she fidgeted with her fingers, a bad habit of hers when she was nervous.

“They’re watching us, all of the time.” Echo stood in front of Hope, arms crossed. The blonde looked up to her and saw how angry and upset she was. “You’ve gotta try harder!” The spy continued with a stern voice. She would not lose Hope to these people. She couldn’t.

“She’s right. Echo is the only one who passed the fear simulation.” Diyoza said as she turned to Octavia, who was leaning against the wall. Then she turned to Hope and pointed her finger at her. “But you’re the only one who almost killed Anders.”

“Yeah, wish it was real.” Hope shook her head, as she thought back at how good it felt to cut through his skin and how the blood dripped down his cheek.

“Stop!” Octavia got away from the wall and took a few steps until she was in front of Hope. The Blake bend over to be at eye level with her. In this moment, Hope felt like she was six again and her aunt was scolding her for something. “Get your anger under control, or do you want go to Penance alone?” Anders had threatened them to send them to Penance, one after the other, so they may die alone before the next arrived.

“What do they want with us, anyway?” Then she looked at her lover, who sighed at her statement. “We can already kick the disciple’s asses.” Hope finished with a laugh, at how ridiculous this was.

“Single minded-devotion.” Diyoza stated the obvious. “Screw your friends, family. You’ve got to burry your love and your anger and everything else, so deep they’ll never find it.”

“It’s not that hard.” 

“Yeah, for you.” Hope retorted and at that Echo looked at her. “Not everyone can turn their emotions off like a switch.” The blonde licked her lips, anger bubbling inside her, as she remembered how Echo treated her all day. In this moment she felt left alone, like the time back on Skyring, when the grounder avoided her for nearly three months. “Do you even care how I feel? You’re doing it again, like when Gabriel told us that I was-” Hope stopped herself before she could finish that sentence. They agreed to not say a word about Sky while they were here.

Diyoza’s head snapped to her daughter as she remembered what Hope had said when they looked at the embryos. “What happened on Skyring.” The middle-aged woman asked and it was clear that she wouldn’t let her go without an explanation. She waited patiently for an answer as several seconds passed.

“Hope.” Echo threatened her with a stern voice, the spy’s face was stony and didn’t give any emotions away. 

At that Diyoza stood up and invaded the personal bubble of the brunette, too fed up with how the grounder treated her daughter. “I don’t know what my daughter sees in you.” Both women held the intense gaze of the other. “But if you intervene again, I won’t make any promises.”

“Mom, stop.” Hope said in a quiet voice as she brought her hands to her face, hiding behind them for a moment, just to steel herself. Then she looked at Echo, who met her eyes over Diyoza’s shoulder. “Echo, we gotta tell them eventually.”

“We will, but not here.” Echo’s nostrils flared at the thought of what Anders would do if he found out.

“They already know, they saw it in my simulation…” The blonde breathed out and shook her head at herself. She jeopardized the safety of their daughter and if something would happen to her, Hope would never forgive herself. “I’m sorry.” She choked out and her mother turned around and made her way to the bed again.

“What did they see?” She bend over Hope and touched her shoulder, as concern showed on her face.

Echo swallowed as she squeezed her eyes shut for a second. She wanted to go over to the blonde and comfort her, tell her that everything will be alright, but she didn’t. Instead she made the hardest decision she ever had to make. A decision that she promised herself and Hope, to never make again. Run. “I think it’s time for me to go to bed.” In front of the door, the brunette stopped and turned around. “Damn yourself if you want to, but I believe in what they’re teaching and I will not let you take me down with you.” Then she took a deep breath, steeling herself to get the next words out. Words, that will not only hurt Hope, but herself too. “You and me, that was a mistake. And whatever we had, even her, it was all a mistake.” Echo quickly turned around, she didn’t want to see the devastated look on the blonde’s face, or she would break too. Then she pulled the necklace out and put it on the dresser, that stood by the door, before she touched the switch and left the room.

The first tears fell down Hope’s cheeks, before her mother could envelope her into a hug. She rocked her while the blonde cried. Octavia caught the gaze of Diyoza and they agreed silently that the brunette would go after Echo, while she would stay here with Hope. When the door closed behind the Blake, she waited a few minutes before breaking the silence.

“You know you can tell me everything, little one.” Diyoza cooed. Hope rested her head on the chest of her mother, while she was stroking Hope’s hair softly. A few minutes passed before she leaned back and wiped her eyes.

“She did it again.” The blonde choked out laughing. “After she promised me, us, that she would never do it again.” Then she turned her head and looked at her mother, who had a confused expression on her face. Hope continued to explain further. “I made a deal with Anders. I would bring him Octavia in exchange for you.” Hope held up her hand as she saw that Diyoza wanted to say something to that. Probably something like ‘how could you do this?’. “Yeah, I was dumb to trust him. Anyways. When Octavia was pulled through, after I tagged her, they took Bellamy. Echo, Gabriel and I followed them and we went through the anomaly.” Hope closed her eyes as she tilted her head back, facing the ceiling. “Echo touched my arm and we went through together and Gabriel said that the anomaly mixed our DNA up. After a few weeks, I had to throw up so much.” The blonde laughed at the memory and faced her mother again, holding her gaze. 

Diyoza’s eyebrows rose up and her mouth was agape. She could have never imagined that this was possible and thus was at a loss for words. “You mean you and Echo have a…I am a…”

“Sky, she’s four. You will love her.” Hope smiled, sniffing as her eyes welled up with tears again. Her heart was broken by the words the brunette said to her. How could she say something like that? Call everything a mistake, as if the last five years meant nothing to her.

“I’m sorry, that’s a lot to process. Give me a moment.” Diyoza drove the heel of her hand over head, her hair was pulled back into a ponytail. “I’m sorry you had to go through so much without me, Hope. I promise you, that we will make it out of here.” With that promise, both hugged each other tightly again.

xxxx

Three months passed since Echo broke Hope’s heart. In these months she avoided the blonde at all costs, never saying a word or look at her. It was necessary to keep her stony and cold façade up. To make Anders think, he had won her for the cause and that she was on their side. To trust her. The pain she had felt throughout her life, was nothing compared to the pain she felt right now. It was unbearable to breath sometimes, but she had to will herself, to not feel anything. To not break.

Throughout these months they let them train with various weapons and after a while, they were finally trained in how to use the disciple armor. The laser weapon on the hands of the armor was controlled by muscle contractions and thus, a little harder to work with than swords or bows. Echo missed her bow. In the years of her life as a spy and a warrior, this was the weapon of her choice. She was good with it and could shoot a target from a great distance, every time hitting the bullseye without so much as sweating.

When Levitt showed them how to use them, they stood in the armory and Echo noticed a door, that held the Trikru symbol. When she asked what was behind it, he told them about the Bardoans, the species that lived here before and how gem9 wiped them out. And that’s what was stored safely behind that door, which only level eleven or above, had access too. It was just enough to kill everyone here on Bardo and Echo made a mental note of that.

When Levitt gave them the crash course, the women could finally use them on a target, that hung on a wall at the end of the room. “The shooter will target the spot blindly, as their partner behind them will lead their aim. First person to hit it, wins.” Anders announced and everyone got in position, before Echo pulled her blindfold on, she asked if the weapon was lethal and Anders frowned. “No.” That was enough information for the spy, as she pulled her blindfold on.

She waited for the others to shoot, every one of them failed to hit. When she counted three shots, she turned to them, arm outstretched, as her muscles contracted. She hit Diyoza first, then Octavia and finally Hope. The women fell to the ground, momentarily knocked out. Now Echo could concentrate on her own target, as she commanded her partner behind her, to help her locate it. When she hit the bullseye, the grounder pulled her blindfold off.

“What the hell.” Hope spitted out in anger, as she stood up.

“I won.” Echo said cocky with a title of her head. It were the first words she had said to Hope in weeks and he blonde’s heart fluttered despite her anger. 

Anders praised her and that was, what Echo wanted to hear. She made him believe that she was a hundred percent on their side. Willing to do everything for the cause. Willing to serve them in the last war, so they might transcend. As a spy, she was trained to hide her true feelings and to adapt, so the enemy would think she was on their side. Years of being a spy, years of pain and torture from the Ice Queen, finally paid off. She does this to protect her family, although they might not know it now, but they will soon.

After three months, they final test was about to begin. It wasn’t physical, it was mentally. Levitt led Echo and Hope to the room, where they would undergo the fear simulation again. “Diyoza and Octavia have done it already, now it’s your turn.” The man nodded as he gestured for them to take a seat. When they leaned back and rested their heads on the cap, he initiated the simulation.

Echo woke up in her bed and like every morning she would do pushups, to stay fit. Every time she came down, bending her arms as she did so, the brunette exhaled. After doing twenty pushups, a light sheen of sweat developed on her tan skin.

“Echo, hey we need to go.” Hope stormed into her room.

“Go where?” The brunette didn’t look at her as she continued her morning exercise.

“I have a plan.”

“For what?” Echo breathed out heavily, her arm muscles began to strain, giving her that delicious feeling.

“Revenge.” The blonde answered with determination and the brunette stopped what she was doing. “But we need to go, before they discover what I took.” At that Echo looked at her, seeing the thing she carried.

“You took the flamethrower?” The spy was on her knees now. Interrupting her pushups, as she looked at the weapon, the blonde held in her hands, with disbelieve.

“We torch the oxygen farm.” Hope breathed out with a smile and when she heard a silent ‘what’ from her lover, she continued to explain her plan. “I shut down the fire suppression system. It’ll be an inferno. We will end Bardo, today.” With that, she turned around and made her way to the elevator, Echo hot on her heels.

“Hope! Wait!” Why did Hope had to ruin her plans? She had worked on them for nearly three months and now, the blonde was sabotaging it with her hunger for revenge. Echo had to try and stop her. When the younger woman stepped into the elevator, the brunette did too and tried to talk her out of it. But the blonde didn’t want to listen and when the elevator finally came to a stop, they exited it again.

Hope strode forward, through the hallway. Every now and then, she adjusted her backpack, as Echo followed her and called out her name. They rounded a corner and the blonde came to a stop at a door. When she touched the switch, it opened and revealed the green scenery of the oxygen farm. “Let’s talk about this.” The brunette shoved her a little, to make her stop.

“Talk? That is not the Echo that I’ve spent five years with on Skyring. I guess they got to you too. I’ll do it myself.” Just as Hope wanted to step out, she stopped herself and addressed the spy again. “You know, I thought Bellamy meant something to you.” Then she exited.

It was this particular sentence that made the brunette realize, that this wasn’t real. Hope wouldn’t bring Bellamy up in this situation, but rather Sky. Everything came back to her and she straightened her back, following this fake Hope.

“I can’t let you kill everyone.” She pulled her back by the shoulder, which earned her a punch to the face and she staggered back, falling to the ground. “Hope, stop!” Now she felt a knife in her boot and pulled it out, throwing it and hitting the back of Hope’s leg. That still wasn’t enough to get her to stop and the next thing the brunette felt, was something cold against her back. So, she pulled out this knife too and threw it, aiming at the blonde’s neck. “Sorry.” Echo breathed out, as Hope let out a gasp, while the blade pierced through her skin.

A bright light swallowed her and when Echo opened her eyes, she found herself seated in the chair again. “I killed her.” The brunette looked up to Levitt, not believing she could do it, even if it wasn’t her Hope. It still felt so real and the grounder wanted to throw up.

xxxx

Echo passed the final test, just like Octavia and Diyoza before her. The only one who didn’t pass, was Hope. On the day of their ceremony, where they were finally became level twos, Anders asked Echo what punishment would suit Hope the best. The spy sentenced her to five years on Penance and she was dragged away by the guard, while she screamed and pleaded for her and her mother. If the brunette’s heart was broke before, it was crumbled even more now. A simple gust of wind could blow it away and leave nothing more than a dark hole in its wake.

When the guards threw her inside the cell, she landed on the cold floor with a thud. Even after the door had closed, she laid there. After an hour, Hope moved to the corner, knees up to her chest, as she hid her face behind her crossed arms. The blonde was too exhausted to cry and even if she wanted too, she had the feeling that she couldn’t; due to crying too much in the passed few weeks. 

Skyring was her home, but at the same time it was her own little bird cage. A cage, that hindered her to be together with her family. Now she had to spent another five years there. Alone. The blonde took a deep breath, feeling how the air licked at her teeth. When she released it again, her body shuddered. Hope lifted her head up and leaned it against the cold wall, as she closed her eyes and dreamed of better times. Times, where she and Echo laughed and kissed all day. Where they all sat together at the table, eating jellyfish etouffee. Times, where they were a happy family. 

The next morning came and Hope still remained in the same position. She didn’t even look up, when the door to her cell opened. “Moving day. On your feet.” A female guard commanded, as she stepped inside the cell. Echo was behind her, she already wore the disciple uniform.

When Hope did look up, her eyes landed on the brunette, who held her gaze. “You really let them sent me to Penance?” The words were spitted out, feeling how they were burning inside her throat like acid. 

The indifferent stare of Echo, mirrored the same demeanor the brunette had throughout these months. Only now, it was much more intense and Hope couldn’t believe how someone, who she thought loved her, could do this. Someone, who made her a promise, to love her for the rest of their lives and who told her to protect her. It was all a lie. The blonde fumed with anger, as she launched forward at her. Fury clouding her mind. All she wanted to do was make Echo suffer, like she had suffered.

Before she could reach her however, the guard seized her and held her in a chokehold. Although she struggled against it, the guard held her firmly. In fact, it was so strong, that black dots danced in front of her vision. Hope struggled to breathe, but before she passed out, the guard’s arms went limp. The blonde staggered forward, holding her hands to her throat as she gulped as much air inside her lungs as possible.

When she turned around, the guard was on the floor, as blood poured out of her mouth. Hope looked up to Echo with a confused look. 

“What? You didn’t really think I believe this garbage.” The spy wiped the blade with a handkerchief as she looked at Hope. This time her face was softer and her eyes were much warmer. Echo dropped the bloody handkerchief, as she made her way to Hope. “I’m sorry. I had to do it, even if it meant that I would break your heart and mine too.” She licked her lips as she continued. “If you want to punch me, I understand. But first we gotta kill them, all of them. When we are back, you can do whatever you want to me. I will take the beating.” 

“You have a plan.” Hope breathed out as she realized, that all of what the brunette did and said in the past three months, was a charade. She launched forward again, but this time not to harm the brunette, but rather to hug her. Echo immediately hugged her back. Both of them have missed the others touch. When Hope leaned back, she connected their lips and her aching heart mended a little. The kiss was firm and before the younger woman could deepen it, Echo leaned back. 

The grounder rested her forehead against Hope’s. “We don’t have much time. There’s been a complication. Our people are here. Clarke, Raven, Miller, Niylah, Jordan.” The taller woman finished, as she broke away from Hope and went to the dead guard. She took the watch from the body, setting it to the same time as hers. “The watches are synched. Put on the guard uniform and take this.” Hope took the watch and stared down at it for a second, before she looked up again. “They will have questions, so I won’t tell you want I’m gonna do. I’ll give you exactly one hour to get everyone we care about off this planet.” Then she went to the door.

“What if I can’t.” Hope voiced her fear, making her lover stop in her tracks.

Echo turned around. “Can’t isn’t an option. You tell them if they’re still here, then they die too.” The older woman gave her a quick kiss, a final goodbye in case something would go wrong. “I trust you, Hope.” Then she left the room, leaving the blonde alone.

Hope hurried with undressing herself, then she stripped the uniform from the body and pulled it on. It took her five minutes to do so, because of her racing heart, which made her hands shake a little. Adrenaline was pumping through her veins, as she made her way outside, looking both ways to see if the coast was clear. When she didn’t see anything, she went straight to her room, knowing that the first people she wanted to get to, were her mother and aunt. 

The blonde ran as fast as she could and when she reached her destination, the door was open, so she stepped into the room. Guns were pointed at her and Hope’s breath caught inside her throat, as she stopped.

“Wait, she’s not one of them!” Diyoza cried out, hindering the others to shoot her.

Hope then looked at everyone in the room, recognizing their faces, although she never met any of them. As a child, she always tried to picture the people her aunt told her about. Her imagination went wild, as the little girl tried to give every name a face. Funny thing is, that she pictured Echo as an ugly woman, because her aunt told her she was a monster. When she saw her however, Hope thought, that she was one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen in her life. 

Remembering the names her lover counted out, it wasn’t hard for her to address each of them with their names. Enjoying the baffled looks on their faces, as she herself wore a smug expression. In this moment she felt as if she knew them and in a way, she did, due to the stories her aunt told her about. It was an alienated feeling, she knew them but they didn’t know her.

“This is Hope, my daughter.” Diyoza took pity on them and introduced the blonde, leaving the others more confused then before. She continued to clarify. “Time dilation is a bitch.” Then she addressed her daughter directly. “How did you get out?”

“Doesn’t matter, right now we need to get ourselves to the stone room and get out of Bardo.” The words of Echo rang in her head. ‘If they’re still here, then they die too.’ No, Hope didn’t want to let it come that far, she had to get them off Bardo. She won’t loose anyone else, not again. “We can get aquatinted later. Let’s go!” She hurried out of the room, trusting the other’s to follow her, which they did.

Inside the hallway, Raven pulled her back by the arm. “Where’s Echo?” Right, that’s the mechanic, who spent six years with Echo up on the ring. The brunette told her, that the Latina was like a sister to her. So automatically, Echo’s family was Hope’s family too. If it was anyone else, she would have punched them for touching her.

“She’ll catch up.” The blonde trusted her to do so, even if she was worried to no end. Worried that the brunette wouldn’t make it herself. Hell, Hope didn’t even know what the spy was doing right now. But she trusted her, so that was enough to calm her racing heart a little bit.

“She will huh? What’s going on?” Diyoza questioned her daughter. The past three months she had trained with the grounder everyday, despite her personal dislike for her. The brunette had broken Hope’s heart, but the blonde still loved her. Even if she was angry and wanted to rather snap the spy’s neck, she couldn’t because Echo was part of their lives and yes, Diyoza considered her family too. When she didn’t receive an answer from her daughter, she pressed further. “Hope, talk now. What is Echo up to?”

“All I know, is that we have…“ The blonde looked down to her watch, seeing that precious time was ticking by, while they discussed this right now. Things they could discuss in the stone room. “…forty-five minutes to get you off this planet.”

Miller narrowed his eyes, not quite sure if he liked the new addition to the team or not. “What happens in forty-five minutes.”

“I don’t know. Really. Echo didn’t tell me, because she knew you would get it out of me.” She addressed him and the others, secretly thankful, that the brunette didn’t tell her the plan. “I’m worried about her too, but I trust her to meet us in Sanctum. So trust her too.” Hope pressed, as she strode forward again and the others followed.

The blonde led them to the elevator and everyone stepped inside. It was big enough to fit them all, but it was still a little crowded. “We need helmets, or else the jump back to a planet with slower time, will cause memory loss.” Hope looked at the helmets her mother, Octavia and Raven carried in their arms.

“I’ve told Cadogan, that he should withdraw his guards, or else I wouldn’t help him.” Clarke looked at the blonde.

“I might have an idea.” Then she turned to her mother. “But you won’t like it, mom.” When Diyoza heard that, she pressed her lips together and titled her head, indicating that she would listen. “I’m still their prisoner. If they see me running around, they will try to catch me. I’m the bait.” Thinking back to the day, Echo seductively called her that, when they tried to win the trust of Orlando.

“You’re right, I don’t like it.” She just got her daughter back and the thought that something could happen, was the material of her biggest nightmares. “But we don’t have another option, I guess.” She agreed, although every cell inside her body screamed at her, as she turned off her motherly instincts.

Hope nodded firmly and as the elevator came to a stop, she squeezed passed the others and led the way to the stone room. Once they stopped in front of the door, Hope addressed them “Wait for me here in this hallway, I will lead them to you.” The blonde ran off in search of disciples. She looked at her watch every now and then. Time was ticking by and with every minute that passed, the feeling of failing got worse.

After what felt like an eternity, Hope spotted five disciples at the end of the hallway, she just stepped into. “Hey, dickheads! Prisoner on the run!” She called out, as she turned around and sprinted back. It was like her body knew which way to go, which particular corner to round. Bardo was branded into her brain after spending three months here.

And like expected, the disciples ran after her. They even shot their lasers at her, but the blonde was just fast enough to round a corner and it hit the wall instead of her. When she rounded yet another corner, this hallway was where the others waited. “Now!” She called out, as she let herself fall to the floor, so Clarke and Miller could point their weapons at the disciples, shooting them. 

The blonde laid on her back, a hand was splayed above her eyes, as she tried to catch her breathe. It felt like her heart was pumping so fast, it threatened to jump out of her throat. Octavia and Miller went to the now dead disciples and stripped them off their helmets. “Ok, we’re set.” Miller said as he handed the helmets to Raven and Clarke.

When Hope somewhat calmed her breathing again, she stood up and was enveloped in a hug by her mother and aunt. Diyoza kissed her temple, thanking whatever higher being was out there, that her daughter was not hurt. When they broke apart, the blonde looked at her watch. “Thirty-two minutes.” She nodded at that, pleased that they had enough time left.

Clarke touched the switch and the door opened, revealing Jordan and Niylah. They had waited for them inside the room. “Oh, you’re back.” The grounder beamed as Clarke shoved a helmet into her arms. Niylah had a puzzled look on her face. “Who’s that?”

“Long story short. I am Hope, Diyoza’s daughter.” The blonde quickly introduced herself, having the feeling that she would have to do it more often, when they’ll arrive in Sanctum. “Now lets jump to Sanctum.” Hope pulled on her helmet and touched the symbols the helmet showed her. The anomaly opened, illuminating the white room in a green light, then she pulled it off again. When she saw the confused look of her mother, she set her jaw. “You’ll go ahead, I will wait here for Echo.”

“Absolutely not.” Diyoza said sternly, it was her mother-voice. A tone that indicated, that she didn’t leave any room open for discussions. “Think about Sky. If something would happen to Echo and you wait here, they will get you too and she will grow up without either of her parents. Just like you.” Diyoza knew it was not fair of her to bring up Sky, but she had to pull on the blonde’s heart strings, to get her to come with them.

Hope swallowed, as inside of her raged a battle between her motherly instincts and the feelings she had for Echo. She knew if she had to choose, she would choose her daughter. Echo would understand, the brunette would demand it even. “I know you will care for her if something gets wrong. But I know that Echo will make it. I trust her.” In her voice was determination and it was her final decision.

“I will stay with her.” Octavia squeezed Diyoza’s shoulder, reassuring her and the woman nodded hesitantly. 

It was hard, if Sky wasn’t a factor, she would have stayed too. Then Diyoza hugged her daughter and Octavia for the last time. “See you on the other side.” She pulled on her helmet and stepped through the anomaly.

“Take this, you might need it.” Miller handed them his rifle and Octavia nodded in gratitude. 

The others said their goodbyes too and followed the ex-terrorist through the green vortex. After a few more seconds, it vanished and the stone room was all white again.

“How much time?” 

“Twenty-seven minutes.” Hope breathed out, as she fidgeted with her helmet.

“You know, when your mother told me about you and Echo, I was surprised.” The Blake huffed out a laugh. “Funny, after everything I’ve told you about her.”

“Oh, you mean how could I fall in love with ‘the spy who stabbed her boyfriend’s sister and kicked her over a cliff’?” Hope grinned as she repeated the words she said to Echo, when they landed on Skyring. “Ah, she is not as bad as you described her and she is really good in-“

“Ok ok enough.” Octavia laughed and held up her hands in fake surrender. At that the blonde had to laugh too. 

They laughter was interrupted by the sound of someone activating the switch and Octavia pointed the gun at the door, ready to shoot. As the door opened, Echo stepped inside and when the brunette saw them, she was visibly angry. “What the hell are you still doing here!?” She hissed through gritted teeth.

“Don’t worry, the others are back on Sanctum.” Octavia said, as she lowered the rifle and made her way to the stone. She pulled her helmet on and opened the anomaly.

“Hope, what exactly wasn’t clear for you?” Echo was still very angry and Hope couldn’t understand why.

“We can discuss this on the other side.”

“No.” Echo stood her ground.

“What do you mean no? Echo, did your plan fail?” Hope rested both hands on the grounders shoulder and met her gaze, demanding from the brunette to give her an answer.

“I was just about to execute it!” The spy broke off, distancing herself from the younger woman and turned to Octavia. “Take her through. If she struggles you will drag her, I don’t care.” She pulled out the ampoule, which contained the gem9, from the pocket of her leg armor. When the Blake nodded, Echo put it away again, carful as to not let it drop.

“Echo, no.” The blonde took a few steps, so she was now standing behind the spy and pulled her back by the shoulder. “Ooof-“ 

Hope collapsed in the brunette’s arms, after she received a punch to the gut. The pain rang through her entire body and she had struggle to breathe. “I’m sorry.“ The grounder kissed the crown of her head softly, as she whispered into her ear. “Ai hod yu in.” Then Octavia took her over and carried her through the anomaly.

Echo breathed out heavily and waited for the anomaly to close. She knew how long the bridge would be open, before it would close again. Exactly twenty seconds. The brunette pulled her helmet on and touched the symbols and the anomaly opened yet another time. Echo counted inside her head, as she stood in front of it. Then she turned around, facing the door. A hand slipped inside her pocket, feeling for the ampoule, that contained the deadliest weapon in the universe. Echo held it in her left hand, while her right hand was aimed at the door, ready to shoot everything that came through. After ten seconds, the sound of the switch could be heard and she contracted her muscles, sending off one laser beam after the other. She heard groaning and thuds as disciples dropped to the ground, now visible to the eye. Echo still continued to fire and when only five seconds were left, she counted them out loud.

“Five. Four.” Then she took a step back and threw the ampoule in the air, aiming her arm at it and sending off a shot. It crystallized the air immediately and in the split of a second, the door was closed, by the disciples that were still left. “Two. One.” She vanished inside the anomaly, just in time.


	11. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Octavia, what happened?” Diyoza panicked when she saw, how her friend carried Hope in her arms. She pulled the helmet off of her daughter, before the blonde collapsed on the floor.  
>    
> Hope was on her hands and knees, as she held her stomach. She tried to concentrate on breathing, groaning every now and then when the pain was too much. Her mother kneeled beside her, a comforting hand on her back, that was driving soothing circles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello and welcome back ☺  
> This should have been my last chapter originally. Well, looks like I am ending it with the 12th chapter then 😌
> 
> As always, mistakes are all mine

The brunette made it. Echo crystallized the stone room, so the disciples will never be able to harm her family ever again. With the gem9 hindering them to use the stone, they would be stuck forever on Bardo, with no escape. That’s what she was planning all along, when they had trained with the lasers and she noticed that door. Levitt explained, that this was the weapon, that killed all Bardoans. Instantly crystallizing them, with no mercy. Echo’s mind went wild when she heard it. Finally, some useful information for the spy. In the time, they had lived and trained on Bardo, she had memorized everything, from the halls to the shift changes of the guards. 

Her plan was risky, but she trusted Hope to fulfill her part. But when Echo stepped into the room and saw that the blonde was still there, the fear that filled her every cell, overwhelmed her. Never in her live, had she ever experienced something like this. It threatened to swallow her whole and Echo didn’t know how to handle it. Her heart beat so fast and her mind made up possible scenarios, of what could go wrong. 

She had prepared herself to be crystallized along with the stone, if there was no other way. But, the thought of Hope being crystallized, was something she never wanted to think of. The agonizing look in her eyes, as every cell bursts when the crystals would fill them. Slowly spreading through her body and solidifying her. No, she didn’t want to think about this!

So, Echo did the only logical thing. She made Hope unable to stand upright, with a punch to the gut. The betrayal in Hope’s eyes, was even more intense, than when she had sentenced her to Penance. It was heart wrenching, but she had to. Hope can hate her for the rest of her life. At least then, she would have one. 

Echo stepped out of the anomaly, which closed immediately. The grounder’s eyes scanned her surroundings, but instead of the dark forest of Sanctum, she found herself inside the second dawn bunker. The brunette frowned for a second, before her face contorted in pain and she covered her left side with a hand. When she held it in front of her face, her digits were pitch black, covered in her blood. 

The brunette must have been shot and didn’t realize it. Now she felt the pain and it hit her full force, radiating trough her whole body. Her ears were ringing and her breathing was getting ragged. The grounder only managed to took a few steps, when her legs gave up under her and she collapsed on the floor. The only thought she had, before her vision turned black was, that her family was finally safe. “Ai gonplei ste odon.” She smiled, as darkness overtook her.

-Sanctum-

“Octavia, what happened?” Diyoza panicked when she saw, how her friend carried Hope in her arms. She pulled the helmet off of her daughter, before the blonde collapsed on the floor. 

Hope was on her hands and knees, as she held her stomach. She tried to concentrate on breathing, groaning every now and then when the pain was too much. Her mother kneeled beside her, a comforting hand on her back, that was driving soothing circles.

“She didn’t want to leave, so Echo had no other choice than to…” That was enough explanation for Diyoza. The ex-terrorist was relieved that Hope was here with them, safe and unharmed. She thanked Echo silently. In the end, Diyoza underestimated the love, Echo had for her daughter. Now that everything was over, she would try to get along with the grounder, for the sake of Hope and Sky.

Octavia nodded at Diyoza and when she turned around, to look at the anomaly, a frown spread across her face. Echo should be here by now, but why isn’t she? There is only one possibility-

“Where is Echo?” Clarke addressed the Blake. Her face was illuminated by the green light, the anomaly gave off.

Octavia looked at her and then at Hope. She breathed out and fog appeared in front of her face, due to the cold. “She used the gem9.” Diyoza’s head snapped up to her, a bewildered look on her face. “Echo sacrificed herself.” The Blake swallowed. Now, not only Bellamy was dead, but Echo too. How many more people, she loved and cared about, had to die?

“No!” Hope screamed as she stood up slowly, swaying as she tried to hold her balance. The pain was getting dull, but her stomach still hurt from the punch. She could feel where the brunette’s fist connected with her skin. Digging into the bruise with her nails, as the pain of losing Echo became too much. Just to feel something else instead. “No.” She choked out, as tears streamed down her face and she collapsed into her mother’s arms.

The night was silent, as sobs and agonizing screams rang through the air, filled with desperation and pain. Hope was full of sadness, but empty at the same time. A numbness was spreading through her, filling her chest and reaching her limbs. She didn’t feel anything anymore. Not the embrace of her mother nor her own body. It was as if she wasn’t here at all. When the screams stopped and the tears dried, her mother was still holding her. Hope looked into the darkness of the forest, with a distant look in her eyes.

“Clarke and the others are gone.” Octavia stood beside them and stroked Hope’s head tenderly. “We should go too. I’m sorry, little one. Echo died a hero, she died so we could-“

“Don’t.” The blonde entangled herself from her mother and stood up too. Her eyes were glazed and she was paler than usual. “Just don’t.” She whispered, as she made her way into the woods. She had lost the love of her life. Her best friend and the mother of her daughter. She didn’t need to hear, that Echo died a hero, because that won’t make it any better. That won’t make her feel any less broken.

Hope took one step after the other, her mind was blank and she didn’t even pay attention, to where she was going, or how long she was walking. She didn’t even notice, that her mother and Octavia followed her. Her mind was devoid of any thoughts, but her daughter. Hope needed to make sure, that at least Sky was ok. 

After an hour, they had reached Gabriel’s tent. Just when the sun peeked around the horizon, painting the sky in a pinkish hue. The radios, that hung on the pole outside, were turned off. Octavia and Diyoza looked at each other, remembering the night, when their friendship had started. Before that, they wanted to kill each other. One garden two serpents. It felt like another life now. The Blake touched Diyoza’s arm and squeezed lightly. The woman, with which she had spent ten years and raised a wonderful girl. A girl that grew up to become a wonderful woman. And they hoped silently, that she wouldn’t give up, despite losing so many people she had loved. 

“Hey, there you are.” Raven stepped out of the tent. Before Hope could make her way inside, Raven put a hand on her shoulder. The Latina didn’t have to say anything, the expression on her face was enough and Hope understood. Echo and Raven were sisters and it hurt her just as much as Hope, that she wasn’t there anymore. The blonde nodded and walked past her, vanishing inside.

Raven touched her aching leg and massaged it, then she took a few steps forward. She snatched the helmet, Octavia was still carrying, out of her hand. “Clarke, Miller and Jordan are on their way back to Sanctum.” The mechanic added, as she looked at the helmet in her hands. “Perfect, just what I needed!” When she saw the raised eyebrows of Octavia, she explained further. “I am working on something. Two helmets already fried, sadly. I’m this close to connect them to the computer, so I can study their codes.” She held her hand up and pinched her fingers together, showing how close she was.

Octavia missed this. She had missed Raven and her urge to study everything. With the six years in the bunker and the ten years on Skyring, she didn’t had time to catch up with the Latina. All of them were children when they came down to the ground. Having to grow up so fast, never really time to enjoy life. She had this opportunity on Skyring and she was immensely grateful for that. 

Then Niylah stepped out of the tent and walked to Octavia. She smiled at the Blake and got a sad and tired one in return. “I am glad you’re unharmed.” Octavia nodded and enveloped the blonde into a hug. The grounder was caught off guard by this, but reciprocated it, relishing in the warmth the, now older, woman radiated. Niylah hummed into her neck and when they parted, the two women were still at arm’s length. 

Octavia turned to Diyoza with a raised eyebrow. “What are you waiting for? Go inside.” But when she saw that her friend wasn’t moving an inch, she sighed with an understanding expression on her face. “I know you’re nervous, but she needs her mother right now and I am sure, that Sky can’t wait to meet you.” 

Diyoza let out a shaky breath and nodded, then she willed herself to move forward. Soon she was at the entrance of the tent, holding its flap open and stepping inside. The first thing she saw was Hope. The blonde was sitting on a chair, with Gabriel by her side. The man had an arm over her shoulder and she leaned against his chest. Diyoza looked at their backs, which blocked the view of the person who laid on the field bed. 

The former prime turned around and met her eyes. He detached himself from the woman beside him and hurried out of the tent, while mumbling that he would leave them alone, so they could catch up. Now, it was only the three of them and Diyoza could see little legs, that peeked out of a blanket. She made her way to the field bed and stood beside her daughter. Her eyes scanned the bed, looking at the child who occupied it. How peaceful she slept and how her little chest heaved, with every intake of breath she took. The little girl had the same nose tip as Hope but the rest of her nose, was unmistakably Echo’s. 

“She’s beautiful.” Diyoza whispered into the silence of the tent, mesmerized at the sheer miracle of how Sky was being conceived and how she was the perfect mix, of either of her parents. The ex-navy seal sat down beside her daughter and looked at her side profile.

Hope stared down at Sky, never losing focus on how she was breathing evenly. She had to make sure, that at least her child was alive. Hope squeezed the object, that she held in her hand, tightly. When she felt how it broke through her skin and the first droplets of blood pooled inside her closed palm, she stopped. Hope opened her hand, the amethyst was now covered in red, as she thought back to the night, when she had gifted it to Echo. Then she thought about the night, Echo put it on the dresser, calling everything a mistake. Hope knew now, that she didn’t mean, but the pain she felt was real. The pain she now felt, was even realer. The blonde felt like being underwater, a primal panic kicking in. She tried to breath, but the only thing that she could do, was fill her lungs with water. Suffocating. Drowning amidst an ocean of pain and tears.

“I don’t know what-“ Hope choked out, as the rest of her words were lost somewhere, inside her throat. What would she tell Sky? How could she tell her, that her nomon wouldn’t come back. That she was gone. Dead. How could a four-year-old child comprehend this, when not even Hope could? Didn’t the blonde bled enough? She had lost her mother and her aunty and with them, half her life, while she sacrificed it to train to rescue them. Then she had lost Dev, her father figure, just when her rescue mission started. Now. Now she had lost Echo. Her best friend. Her lover. The person, who was her anchor. The one, who taught her how to be a better person. The one, who gave her the most wonderful thing in her life. Sky.

“You’re not alone, Hope. I will be there, every step of the way.” Diyoza embraced her and leaned her forehead against her daughter’s temple. Showing her, that she won’t have to shoulder everything on her own. “We do this together. I promise.” 

Hope swallowed and nodded. Just when she wanted to let new tears fall down her face, she sniffed them away, as she saw that Sky’s breathing was getting uneven. An indicator that she would wake up at any moment. Hope wanted to stay strong, for the sake of her daughter. She had to stay strong, just like her mother was strong for her.

The little girl stretched herself, as she opened her eyes. Slowly her vision turned sharp, as the sleepiness subsided and she looked at her mother. “Mommy.” She mumbled with a smile on her face, that reached her eyes. A smile, only a little child could show. Full of innocence and joy, not tainted by the hardship of life or the loss that accompanied it. 

It nearly broke Hope’s already broken heart, as she thought of not seeing that same smile on Sky’s face, ever again. When her daughter’s eyes landed on Diyoza, a frown appeared on her face. “Mommy, who is that?” The little girl searched blindly for the hand of her mother and gripped it tightly. She rather wanted to hide behind her, but that was impossible, due to the position they were in.

“Don’t be scared, little one. This is your grammy.” Hope squeezed her daughter’s hand in return, encouraging her to not be afraid. The blonde had told her stories about her mom and aunty O. Echo in return, told her stories about Clarke and the others. She had left the gruesome stuff out, of course and the grounder sugarcoated a lot of things. When Hope listened to her lover, telling their daughter stories, the same stories Octavia told her when she was young, she was surprised. Surprised at how similar they were. Echo used another narrative though, she didn’t make herself a monster in those stories, not like Octavia did. In fact, neither of her stories had any real monsters. Everyone was a hero and of course, it could hardly be any different, Murphy was her favorite.

The little girl loosened her grip and leaned forward on her knees, sliding on the bed, until she was in front of Diyoza. Sky looked at her with big brown eyes and slowly but surely, a smile spread across her face. The middle-aged woman couldn’t believe, how similar Sky looked to a younger version of Hope, with only a little of Echo sprinkled here and there. Now she had a chance to see her grow up, a chance she didn’t had with Hope. “Mommy told me about you.”

“Did she? I hope it were only good things.” Diyoza said playfully and chuckled, at the serious nod, the little girl gave her. “Your mommy told me about you too. Only good things, of course.” She booped her nose and got a giggle in return. 

Then Sky looked around and when she didn’t see the person she was looking for, she stood up. The girl walked around the big tent and Hope had to look away, to not break down again. “Where is nomon?” Sky turned to her mother and grandma.

“I can handle it, if you want.” Diyoza whispered, just loud enough for Hope to hear. The blonde shook her head at that. It had to be her, who would break the news to her daughter. She only needed a few more seconds, to prepare herself.

“Baby, come here.” Hope stood up and kneeled down, stretching her arms out. The girl immediately walked to her mother and embraced her. In the embrace, Hope stroked her daughter’s hair and whispered into her ear, that her nomon wouldn’t come back. The blonde held her daughter, while she cried in her arms. Sky was confused and she didn’t know what exactly that meant, but it couldn’t be good, if she would never see her nomon ever again.

-Earth-

Echo bolted upright, moaning at the stinging sensation, she felt on her left side. The room was dark, except for the torches that hung on the walls. The grounder looked around herself, noticing that she laid on a queen size bed. When she realized, in which bed she was, she frowned. Now the memories of what had happened, flooded her mind. “Why am I here?” 

Her throat was dry like sandpaper. When her gaze fell on a mug, that stood on a bedside table, she took it and gulped the water down hastily. The brunette grunted, as she stood up. Somehow, she wasn’t in the disciple’s armor anymore, but in a white t-shirt and black leggings. Sliding up the t-shirt, she saw, that someone had tended to her wound. A dressing was covering her middle and she didn’t see anything black, tainting the white bandage, which indicated, that her wound was stitched up.

Echo grabbed a torch and made her way outside of Blodreina’s bedroom and into the hallway. The question, of how she was back on earth, was giving her a headache. How was this possible, when she explicitly touched the symbols for Skyring? It had to be Skyring, in case something went wrong and the anomaly wouldn’t close in time. Still, this didn’t make any sense for the spy.

Another light greeted her at the end of the hallway and Echo stopped abruptly. This person didn’t want to harm her, or else they wouldn’t have treated her wound. So, Echo relaxed, instead of going into a fighting stance.

“You shouldn’t be out of bed.” Gaia stood in front of her, torch in her left hand, while her right hand held a hare.

“Gaia.” Echo breathed out in surprise. “What are you doing here?” As the pain of the wound got too much, the brunette grunted out and supported herself against the wall. The other woman immediately rushed to her and brought her back to bed, taking a seat on the chair, which stood next to it.

“After Clarke and the other’s left, a disciple knocked me out. I saw how he turned off the stone and before the bridge closed, we went through. Landing here.” The ex-fleimkepa explained and then continued. “He said, when you’re caught in a closing bridge, it defaults to the planetary origin of your DNA, Earth.”

“But why am I here?” Echo frowned. This didn’t make any sense for the grounder. Nobody deactivated the stone. Then her eyebrows shot up to her hairline, as a possible explanation came to her mind. “The stone must have been crystallized and so it was turned off.”

At Gaia’s confused expression, Echo explained her everything, from when they took Bellamy to her escape from Bardo. “You have quite a journey behind you. I think it’s for the best, that you rest some more. I will prepare dinner. You must be hungry after sleeping so much.”

“How long have I been sleeping?” 

“Two days.” Gaia rushed to Echo and held her down by the shoulders, when the brunette made an attempt to stand up again. “And you need to rest more, you’re hurt. I tried to close the wound as best as I could, but I am not a fisa. You have to be careful!” When Gaia came back from a hunting trip, she saw Echo, bleeding out on the floor of the fighting pits. Luckily, she found Jackson’s bag, with all his medical equipment. The woman tried to stich her up as best as she could, although it was a little sloppy, she had managed to close the wound.

Echo shook her head vehemently, as she struggled against Gaia’s firm hands, that were pinning her down. “No, you don’t understand! We need to find the stone and jump back to Sanctum.” Who knows, how time behaves here on earth? Does time pass faster or slower here? Echo had no idea and if it was the latter, she didn’t want to think of how many years had passed on Sanctum already. “What if Hope thinks I’m dead and Sky-“ Finally Gaia let her go, afraid that the stiches would pop open, if the brunette would struggle more.

“Where is my helmet?” When Gaia pointed to the pile on the floor, in the corner of the room, Echo didn’t waste any more time and picked it up. She pulled it on and tried to locate the stone. “It’s this way.” Then the brunette rushed out of the room, not caring about the pain she felt, from all the sudden movements she did.

Gaia followed her out of Blodreina’s bedroom and into the room with the piano. When Echo pulled the helmet off again and put it on the desk, next to the wall, she went to the piano and tried to push it away.

“Echo, wait!” The ex-fleimkepa helped her with moving the heavy object out of the way. How could she be so reckless? Does she want to pull her stitches? Gaia then bended down and removed the rung, revealing the azgeda clan symbol. “Azgeda.” Gaia frowned at the white hand, that was covering the black marble floor.

“Lucy kom Azgeda. The first ice queen.” Echo whispered as she saw the size of the hand. Lucy had characteristically small hands, due to only being 5’2 inches in height. Despite how small she was, she was a fierce fighter. Mother of the ice nation, a legend among her people. “It’s under the floor. I need something to…” Echo bolted out of the room, not caring to finish her sentence, or listening to the warnings, Gaia spoke out.

When the spy came back, she carried a sledgehammer with her. Just when she wanted to take the first swing, Gaia pulling her back by the shoulder. “Echo, you will pull your stitches!” But the woman didn’t want to listen and instead shoved Gaia back and out of the way. Then Echo brought the hammer down onto the floor, directly on the symbol. The first crack appeared in the marble; one step closer to the stone. Echo moaned out in pain, as she felt how this movement pulled at her wound and the pain was nearly too much, but she urged herself on. One swing after the other and the room was filled with the clang of how the hammer head met the floor. Soon her stiches opened up and she bled through her bandage and her shirt.

“Echo, stop! You’re bleeding!” Gaia plead with desperation in her voice, but she knew, that the azgeda warrior wouldn’t stop. The blonde then rushed out of the room and came back with a sledgehammer of her own, helping Echo in getting the stone out of the floor.

With each clang that ran through the air, a pained grunt could be heard too. Echo gritted her teeth, as the pain was the only thing she could feel right now. The grounder didn’t stop though. Not when her whole shirt was painted black or when her vision threated to turn just as black. One swing after the other and one step closer, to getting to the stone. 

When enough of the stone was visible, Echo let the hammer fall to the floor with a clang and Gaia stopped too. “My helmet. I need my…” Stumbling to the desk, on which her helmet stood, she took it and pulled it on. With the help of Gaia, she made it back to the stone and touched the symbols, that were needed to bring it online. It freed itself from the floor and levitated in the air. Now, the last thing she had to do, was to open a bridge to Sanctum. But before she could do it, she fell to her knees and dropped to the floor. 

“Echo! Echo!” Gaia’s voice became distant, as Echo closed her eyes and lost consciousness. A dreamless slumber overcame her and held her in a vice like grip, refusing to let her go. She couldn’t do anything to stay awake, couldn’t fight against it. She was helplessly trapped inside her body, which she was unable to command, to stay awake.

-Sanctum-

After their escape from Bardo, a week had passed. The former prime had set up another tent, for Hope, Diyoza and Sky. Raven, Octavia and Niylah would stay inside his tent. The Latina was tirelessly working, on connecting the helmets to the computer, the Columbian man owned. She already fried her third helmet, but it had nearly worked this time. Niylah and Octavia retrieved the other helmets, which laid scattered around on the meadow, in front of the anomaly. After they had stepped through, the majority of them had pulled them off and dropped them to the ground, because they had no more use for them. 

Hope had refused to eat, she only laid inside her make shift bed. No more tears were falling, as she laid on her side, facing the tent wall. Just hugging herself and waiting for sleep to make her forget. Sky sensed that her mother wasn’t doing so well, so she left her alone and instead played with her uncle Gabby, Octavia and her grammy. In this time, Diyoza formed a close bond with her granddaughter. It was bittersweet. She was happy that she could spent time with Sky, but on the other hand, it hurt her to see her daughter like that. The ex-navy seal noticed, that Sky pretended to be strong through making the adults laugh. The little girl tried to lift their moods, she even tried to do it with her mother, but soon realized, that Hope didn’t want any company.

The blonde hadn’t spoken one word since she told Sky, that her nomon won’t come back. Diyoza tried to make her eat something, but Hope didn’t move or look at her, she just laid there. Everyone had tried, even Niylah, but to no avail. Hope was stubborn in her own self-destruction, slowly neglecting herself, wishing she was dead. She felt dead. An emptiness, that was filling her more and more, as the days passed by. Skin pale and eyes sunken into her skull, she even looked dead.

On the fifth day, Hope finally stood up and sat around the fire with the others. Her daughter was hesitant at first. Should she go to her mother and sit on her lap, like she always did when they sat around the fire, back on Skyring? When Hope looked at her with a smile, that was her cue and the little girl walked over to her, seating herself on her mother’s lap. Hope embraced her, putting both arms around Sky, as she held her tightly against herself. She won’t stop fighting for her daughter, it was selfish of her to let herself drown in her grief. No, Hope would live for Sky. So, the blonde took the meat, that Gabriel offered her and brought it to her mouth. Taking a bite, she chewed slowly. The taste and texture were foreign to her, due to only eating jellyfish and vegetables throughout her life. It was hard to swallow at first, but it got easier with the third and the fourth bite.

The days passed by quickly. Raven worked on her little project, while Gabriel helped her as best as he could. Octavia and Niylah reconnected their relationship, they had formed in the bunker, all those years back. The grounder woman was always by her side, touching her arm or smiling at her and Octavia seemed to enjoy it. Back then, she didn’t want to let anyone close, when she was Blodreina. Hating what she saw in the mirror, disgusted at the person that looked back at her. How can someone love this monster? Niylah was the only one, who wasn’t afraid of her, but Octavia didn’t allow her to get any closer, despite the feelings she had for her. But now? Now she wasn’t Blodreina anymore, she was just Octavia. She let Niylah into her heart, after all the heartache she had lived through, that much she could finally allow herself.

“Why don’t you go to Sanctum? I am sure Sky would love to meet kids her age.” Octavia sat on a log, outside the tents. She held a cup of steaming hot coffee in her hands and relished in its warmth. It was early in the morning and their little camp just woke up.

“I would hate to hand the old man in, in exchange for that golden ticket.” The ex-terrorist joked and chuckled at the offended look, Gabriel tried to fake. Back then, Russell Prime had promised her, that she could live in Sanctum, if she handed him Gabriel. It was a deal, she couldn’t say no to, pregnant and in need for safe shelter.

“Russell Prime?” Raven came out of the tent and sat beside Gabriel. “Clarke handled that. After he had killed her mother, she sentenced him to death. I think he doesn’t have a say anymore, who lives in Sanctum and who doesn’t.” The mechanic snatched the dry meat, the former prime held in his hands and took a bite, despite his complains.

“What do you say?” With a raised eyebrow, Diyoza looked at her daughter, who observed a sleeping Sky in her lap.

At the question of her mother, the blonde looked up. She had contemplated this the other night. It would be good for her daughter to meet other children, to play with them and maybe go to school in a few years. She herself never had such a chance, but she wanted to give it to her daughter. Hope nodded and turned her attention back to Sky again.

“Niylah and I will come too.” The Blake piped up behind her mug.

Within the next few hours, they made themselves ready to go to Sanctum. Diyoza and Octavia took turns, in carrying Sky on their shoulders. The little girl seemed to have fun, laughing every so often and for the first time since Echo died, Hope smiled genuinely. When they arrived at the gates of Sanctum, Murphy and Emori greeted them. 

“Clarke told us. I’m sorry.” Emori’s eyes held sympathy and Hope nodded at that. After Murphy deactivated the shield, all of them passed through.

“Bellamy and Echo. In a matter of a few days…” Murphy took a deep breath as a lonely tear rolled down his face. He wiped it away quickly, as he received a hug from Octavia.

“It’s good to see you again, Murphy.” Octavia mumbled into his neck, as she held him tightly. Then she went to hug Emori.

“Mommy look, it’s Murphy!” Sky pointed at him excitedly while she struggled in her hold. Hope eventually let her down and she ran to him. Stopping abruptly in front of the man, she looked up, having to strain her neck to do so. 

Murphy kneeled down, so he was at eye level with the girl. “And who do we have here?”

“I am Sky. Nomon told me so many stories of you!”

“Ah, let me guess, I am your favorite?” He grinned, basking in the attention. It was a distraction, from the pain of losing two of his found family members. Sky’s grin widened and she started to ramble, telling him about all of her favorite things, she liked about him. Murphy chuckled and picked her up, carrying her on his hip. “Aren’t you a firecracker?”

Two weeks had passed since their escape from Bardo. Now that they are in Sanctum, Sky interacted with other children and Hope was happy, that her daughter could finally play and be a normal kid. If Echo could be here, their family would be complete and she could see, how Sky learned new things every day. How she was curiously learning and discovering a whole new world. Trying every new food, they served in Sanctum. She loved dessert and hated broccoli, that much didn’t change. 

They lived in the farmhouse, sleeping in Echo’s old room. The bedsheets even smelled like her and Hope had cried herself to sleep, silently as to not wake Sky and her mother, who slept beside her. It still felt surreal to think, that she won’t see Echo ever again. No more soft touches, no more kisses. She would never feel her warmth anymore, would never hear her laugh. Hope tried to be strong and she would continue for her daughter, that much she owned her.

Madi had instantly taking a liking to Sky. She took her under her wing, showing her around and playing with her. Introducing the little girl to the older children and telling her new stories, about both of their childhood heroes. Slowly but surely, a sisterly bond formed between them.

“Gaia is missing.” Clarke was on the porch, as she and Hope watched their daughters. The two girls laid on a blanket on the floor, drawing something and showing their work to the other, every now and then. Picasso laid beside them, basking in the afternoon sun. “The last time I saw her was, when we went through the anomaly, to get to you.” A sadness tainted her voice, as Clarke gripped the railing. “Indra and the others went out to look for her. Everywhere. In the city. The woods. Even the fucking spaceship.” She scoffed at the last part.

“You love her.” It was a statement, not a question, as Hope observed her reaction.

“Yes.” A sigh escaped her lips and she shook her head. “I’ve loved someone else before. Lexa. She was the love of my life. After she died.” Clarke paused for a few seconds, as she thought back. Seeing the surprised look in Lexa’s eyes as the bullet hit her. “After she died. I thought, I could never love anyone ever again. But then, I met Gaia and she…she proofed that I was wrong.” She finished and looked at Hope, an understanding between them. Both of them had lost so much in their lives. So many people.

“I don’t think I could..” Hope shook her head, willing herself not to cry again, but when she felt how the other woman enveloped her into a hug, she let the tears fall.

“Clarke!” Miller rushed outside, interrupting the moment of comfort and mutual understanding. The women broke apart and the man continued. “It’s Raven.” He gave her the radio. Meanwhile Octavia, Diyoza, Indra, Murphy and Jackson joined them on the porch.

“Raven?”

“Clarke, you remember the planet that was offline?”

The blonde frowned at the randomness of the mechanic. “Yes?”

“I received a signal from it. It’s online again. And guess what planet it is.” Through the radio, Clarke could hear the smile, the Latina had on her face. “Earth! It’s earth. Someone has activated it.”

A few seconds passed, as the blue-eyed woman was taken aback by the news. She couldn’t believe how that was possible. “Raven, what are you talking about? McCreary destroyed earth. Not even a cockroach survived it.” Then she turned to her left. “No offense, Murphy.”

“Non taken.” The man said with raised hands. At first, he hated the nickname, but now it grew on him and he had to admit, that it was funny too.

Hope’s mind went wild, inside her bubbled a new hope, that this could be Echo. It has to be her! She took the radio out of Clarke’s hand and did the same thing Clarke did, when she answered the radio. Mimicking her, due to never having used a radio before, so Hope pressed the button and spoke. “I will be there in an hour, then we will investigate it together.” She handed the radio back to Clarke and addressed her mother. “Could you watch Sky for me?”

“You think it’s her.” Diyoza sighed and nodded. “Be careful.” She enveloped her into a hug, looking over Hope’s shoulder at Octavia. The two women held a silent conversation with their eyes. Octavia would make sure, that Hope will stay safe.

“We’ll be there soon.” With that, Clarke turned off the radio and addressed the others. “I know we barely made it out of Bardo. I won’t force anyone to come with me, just like the first time.”

Indra, who stayed silent the whole time, finally spoke up. “If there is only the slightest chance, that it is Gaia, then I will follow you.”

“We will come too.” Jackson looked lovingly at Miller and intertwined their fingers.

“Ah, what the hell. I’m in too.” Murphy mumbled, thrilled at the idea to see earth again.

-Earth-

Gaia managed to drag the spy out of the room and into the hallway. Echo’s pulse was weak, nearly non existing. She had lost a lot of blood and it was a miracle that she was still breathing. It was, as if Echo held on with all her will power, refusing to accept that her fight was over. The ex-fleimkepa was impressed and yet again, she felt validated in her believes, that natblidas were strong. 

With a grunt, she laid Echo down on the bed and pulled her shirt up. The bandage was soaked through, with black blood and Gaia hastily rummaged through the bag. Pulling out a thread and a needle, she unwrapped the bandage and tried to stich her up again. With shaking hands, she wanted to set the first stich, when she heard something. Gaia closed her eyes and concentrated, straining her ears to make out, what exactly those noises were. When she heard the distant sound of voices, her eyes opened and she stood up from the bed. The blonde pulled out a knife, that was attached to her waist and existed the room.

She silently crept through the hallway and into the direction, of were the voices came, the fighting pit. Right were the hallway ended, she stopped and lurked around the corner, expecting disciples. When she saw Clarke and the others, she relaxed and sheathed her knife. “Clarke.” She made her way down and Clarke immediately enveloped her into a bone crushing hug, whispering how much she had missed her and how worried she was.

When they parted, Gaia clasped the arm of her mother, who looked at her with relief in her eyes. That was more than enough sentimentality, her mother would ever show her. Gaia turned to Jackson then. “Echo has lost a lot of blood and is in urgent need of a fisa. She is inside Blodreina’s bedroom.”

“Murphy, come with me.” Jackson said as he rushed upstairs and through the hallway.

“Echo.” Hope breathed out and ran after the doctor. When she entered the room, the blonde saw Echo and how she bled onto the mattress, soaking it through with her black blood. In this moment, she couldn’t think, couldn’t act. It was as if time stopped, her heart beat faster and vibrated through her whole body, pumping adrenaline into her veins. She couldn’t lose her, not again.

“She needs a blood transfusion. Murphy, you’re a nightblood, so you can donate.” Jackson said, as he prepared the tubes, sticking one end into Echo’s arm, piercing her pale skin with the needle. Murphy complied and rolled his sleeve up. Jackson stuck the needle, of the other end into his arm. The blood flowed out of Murphy’s arm and into Echo’s bloodstream. Then the doctor began to clean the wound and stitched her up properly.

All Hope could do, was watching and holding her breath. She still stood at the door entrance, too afraid to move an inch. Her gaze was fixated on Echo’s chest and how weakly it rose and fell. The blonde didn’t even notice that she was crying and sobbing, not until her aunt hugged her and whispered reassuring words into her ear. “She’s strong, don’t worry.”

Jackson was done within ten minutes and adjusted the tube at Murphy’s end. “Hold your arm higher, so the blood can flow down.” Then he turned to Hope. “She's weak, but she’ll make.” 

That’s what urged her on and the blonde took hesitant steps to the bed. Taking a seat beside Echo on the mattress, she stretched out her hand and touched her face. Feeling her skin under her fingertips, roaming around her jawline, memorizing it. Hope had thought, she would never see her again. Would never feel her again. When the blonde made sure that Echo was indeed here with her, alive, she let out a choked laugh and leaned forward. Pressing her lips against her sweat soaked hair, while closing her eyes.

Gabriel stood behind her, hand on her shoulder. “She is a fighter.” And Hope clasped her hand above his, giving it a squeeze as a thank you.

“Gabriel, you are a nightblood too, right.” Jackson stated more than asked the former prime and as he nodded, he pulled the needle out of Murphy’s arm and switched it with a clean one. “Sit down.” The man immediately took a seat, willing to help his friend without a second thought. He let out a little hiss, when the needle pierced his skin.

Another ten minutes passed by and Jackson pulled the needle out of Gabriel, saying that he donated more than enough blood. Octavia ushered everyone out of her old room and closed the door behind her, leaving Hope and Echo alone. She knew, that her niece wanted to have some time alone, so she gave her the needed space.

Octavia breathed in the fresh air, as she stepped out of the bunker. Too many bad memories haunted her, while she was down there. Niylah sensed that Octavia was shaken up, so the blonde reached out and took her hand in hers, squeezing it.

“I can’t believe that earth has vegetation and wildlife again.” Miller said in awe as he looked around himself. They were surrounded by trees and bushes, as birds filled the air with their songs.

“We should go back to Sanctum and get the others. This is our second chance.” The mechanic said.

“After all those years, I am finally back on earth.” Gabriel smiled and marveled at the sheer beauty, only this planet could offer. He addressed no one in particular as he explained how time was behaving here. That one day equaled one week on Sanctum, so there should likely jump back and get their friends, as to not make them worry too much.

“Gabriel and I will jump back. We’ll prepare everything and tell the people in Sanctum, that if they want to live here, they are free to join us.” Raven said, as she raised an eyebrow at the former prime, a silent demand to follow her back to the bunker. The man wordlessly followed her and Octavia noticed, that something was going on between them.

Miller and Jackson went inside the bunker too and now only Octavia and Niylah were left. The grounder, who still held her hand, interlaced their fingers and turned to her. “We don’t need to go down there again. I can set up a tent.” 

The brunette turned to her fully, so she was now standing in front of her, face to face. Her breath hitched as she saw the understanding and loving look, the other woman was giving her, so she leaned in and connected their lips. It was not only a kiss, it was a ‘thank you’ and a ‘I’m sorry’. Niylah understood, as she kissed her back.

Inside the bunker, Hope didn’t leave Echo’s side. Jackson had checked on her several times now and each time, Hope had asked him, when she would wake up. Receiving the same answer every time, that he doesn’t know it. When the doctor left the room, leaving them alone again, Hope laid down. Just next to Echo, carefully, as to not dip the mattress too much. Can’t risk to hurt Echo. Hope occupied the right side of the much too big bed, scooting closer to the spy, not caring about the blood that had soaked through the mattress. The younger woman just watched her, roaming her eyes over her body, memorizing everything, although it was already branding into her mind. 

Echo’s pulse was much stronger, Jackson said, before he left the room earlier and Hope let out a relieved sigh. She didn’t know what she would have done, if she saw her die. Losing her a second time, was too much for her and she was sure, that she would break. Shatter into thousand tiny pieces, unable to be mended together again.

A few more hours passed by and Hope was still watching the woman, that laid beside her, softly stroking her hair and kissing her face, every now and then. Whispering to no one in particular, thanking whoever would listen. Fade or a higher being, or just pure luck. It didn’t matter. She was just immensely grateful, that Echo was here beside her. Breathing. Alive.

The grounder’s face furrowed, as she slowly woke up. Her limps felt heavy, head was pounding and her left side ached with a stinging pain. Her eyes fluttered open, vision blurry, as she grunted out in pain. Echo felt a hand against her face, softly stroking it. When her vision focused, her gaze fell on Hope.

“Hope.” She croaked out, as she tried to get into a sitting position, but was held down. Too weak to fight it, she let the blonde push her down. 

“Shhhh. I’m here, love.” Hope kissed her forehead and the spy could feel a how she was smiling against her skin. Then, she felt something wet and at first, she didn’t know what it was, but when she realized it, she turned her head. “I’ve nearly lost you. Again.” The younger woman choked out.

Echo willed her arm too move, lifting it from the mattress, with the strength she still had left. She brought it to Hope’s face and the blonde leaned into the touch. “I would never leave you.” Then she dropped her hand and took the blonde’s hand, guiding it to her chest. “Ai tombom es yun.” (My heart is yours) 

Hope felt her heartbeat under her fingertips. It was pounding inside the brunette’s chest, telling her what she needed to know, to calm her own heart. I am here. I am here. I am here. 

Soon Echo’s eyes fluttered shut again, too tired and spent to stay awake any longer. Hope leaned into her side, wrapping a blanket around them and the smell and warmth of her lover, set her to sleep too. How many hours they had slept, they didn’t know. When a knock on the door, disturbed the silence of the room, both women woke up. Echo felt much better, Murphy and Gabriel donated enough, to make up for the blood she had lost and her face wasn’t that pale anymore.

“Come in.” Hope said, as she sat up and when the door opened, a smile spread across her face.

“Nomon!” Sky jumped onto the bed, but Hope quickly held her in her arms.

“Slow down, baby. Your nomon is hurt. Be careful.” And with that, she let her daughter go.

Sky sat there for a second, as a saddened expression came to her face and she touched her nomon’s leg, that was under the blanket. “Does it hurt much?”

Echo winked at her daughter. “Not anymore, now that you are here, gaufa.” With the help of Hope, she sat up on the bed and stretched her arms out. Sky was careful, just like her mother told her to be, as she embraced her nomon.

“Good that you still walk among the living. I am sorry that I underestimated you, Echo.” Diyoza, who leaned against the doorframe and observed the family reunion, addressed the grounder. Even she didn’t know, that Echo only pretended on Bardo. To be honest, the ex-navy seal was a little angry, that the spy didn’t tell her. They could have done it together, instead of feeling how the distrust grew inside her stomach.

“Don’t be. It means, that I am a good spy after all.” She smirked, as she made a reference to the time, they had met. Hope looked between them with a raised eyebrow, she would have to ask Echo later what that meant. The grounder’s gaze fell on Sky, who was still pressed against her chest and then to Hope again. All those weeks, she had to suffer on Bardo, breaking hers and Hope’s heart. All of this, was worth it in the end. She was finally reunited with her friends and family. “We are home."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am hinting at a lot of ships here hehe 😚  
> And yes, Sheidheda didn't happen in my fic, bc one enemy is more than enough honestly haha
> 
> The next chapter will be a sweet little epilogue ♥️


	12. Epilog

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a short epilog. Nothing special and not relevant to the story. Enjoy :)  
> PS: I'm sorry it took me way too long to write this.

Sunbeams spread over the horizon. They followed a path around the mountains and over the see, only to hit the window of a little cabin. The beam flooded the room with its light and warmth, making the white dust in the air visible. It was a beautiful sunday morning and the birds were chirping and singing. Winter was finally over and the first few blossoms greeted the upcoming season – spring.

Hope rolled over in bed. The soft bedsheet felt good against her naked skin, as the light hit her eyelids. The melatonin slowly but surely leaving her body and with it the sleepiness too. The blonde scrunched up her nose and opened her eyes, now fully awake. Her hazel eyes taking in the view in front of her, pupils constricting due to the light that hit them. 

Echo’s long brown hair was sprawled out on the white pillow, her face had a serenity and softness to it and the younger woman smiled at that. The bedsheet was only covering her midsection, giving Hope a good view of the other woman’s shoulders and creamy legs. Legs that could go on for days. Legs, Hope spent so much time kissing and worshipping last night.

“I can feel you staring at me.” A hoarse voice pulled her out of her dreaming and back to reality. With one eye open, the spy peaked at her lover.

“I can stare as much as I want.” She countered back with a raised eyebrow and an amused smile, waiting for the answer of Echo.

“Oh yeah? And why’s that?” Mirroring the smile of her wife, the brunette made herself ready through shifting her weight onto her left elbow. Within the split of a second, she used the momentum and rolled over and on top of the other woman.

“Because you’re mine.” Finally kissing those full and soft lips. Something she could do all day for the rest of her life. Just laying in bed and kissing the woman she loves. 

The azgeda warrior licked and bit on Hope’s lips, receiving an intoxicating moan and a strong grip on her upper arm from the shorter woman. Breaking the contact between their lips, Echo made her way to her neck and down to her collarbone. Fingers that were gripping and tugging on her long brunette hair were urging her on. Urging her on to go further and further down and where she was needed the most.

The blonde held the top of Echo’s head in her hands, partially pulling her hair and partially pushing her down. But Echo didn’t need guidance, she knew exactly what buttons to push and where to find them. Hope opened her legs wider in anticipation, gripping Echo’s head under the cover and just when she felt the ghost of a tongue, a knock rang through the air.

Both women hastily tried to cover themselves with the bedsheets and leaned their backs against the headboard. They’d manage to do this just in time the door flew open and a grinning Murphy walked in. “Wakey wakey sleepy heads.” The man stopped in front of the bed and crossed his arms. “Did I interrupt something?”

“Quit the jokes, Murphy. How much time do we have left?” Echo said annoyed and stared him dead in the eye. They had agreed that they would get a free night and Sky would stay at Diyoza’s cabin.

“Not much. Mama Diyoza prepares breakfast and baby Diyoza is playing with the puppies, as we speak.” He looks down at his naked wrist and scratched his beard. “I think it’s time to be parents again.” Then he looked up and gave the couple a lopsided grin. Murphy loved to tease his friends and everyone loved his attics, although nobody would admit it.

“Don’t you have a baby to take care of. As we speak.” Hope raised her eyebrows while she clicked the ‘k’ as it rolled over her tongue. 

This pulled a chuckle from the man and he pointed his finger at her. “Touché.” Then he turned around and closed the door, but not before calling out. “Thank you Murphy for warning us, so our daughter wouldn’t have to see this and get a trauma for the rest of her life.”

Both women stared at the closed door and then at each other. They knew it was time to get dressed and to face the outside world. Enough time spent inside their little bubble, just enjoying themselves. And yes, Murphy was right, it was time to be parents again.

Hope was the first to step out of the cabin. It was one of seven cabins, circling a big open space. In the middle of that space were benches and tables, which rounded a fireplace. An eighth cabin, just outside the circle, was in the making. Much bigger than the one’s they lived in. It will be the workshop for Raven and Gabriel. Under the same roof, separated through a wall, will be a little med bay. 

She breathed in the fresh air, as she brushed over her short hair with the heel of her hand. Smelling the eggs and meat that sizzled in the pan above the fire, her stomach grumbled as saliva pooled inside her mouth. Hope remembered the first time she had tastes meat. Real meat. Not that weird meat she ate back on Sanctum. When she took the first bite, a thousand fireworks exploded on her tongue. Suddenly, taste buds were activated, she didn’t know she had.

Echo pulled her out of her memory, as she rested a hand on top of her shoulder. “I told you women aren’t food. Let’s get you something real to eat.” She whispered inside the shell of her ear with a mischievous grin, earning a blush from her wife.

When the couple sat down, they were greeted by their family and friends. Diyoza kissed the top of her daughter’s head, as she handled her two plates. Their daughter Sky, who happily played with a few puppies, waved at her parents with enthusiasm.

One day Picasso ran away and came back a week later. They didn’t think much of it but after a few weeks they noticed a change. She was pregnant with six healthy puppies. Gabriel was fascinated at the flora and fauna earth 2.0 developed. How a lot of species were the same. Apparently, wolves did evolve again, in order for Picasso to mate with one. Gabriel was still thinking of a theory, but what he was sure of was, that somehow life will always find a way. Soon they found rabbits, bison, wild sheep and a few other familiar animals among the many new and alien-like organisms. Maybe a valley, just like the one they fought over, preserved a few species. Gabriel had to do more research, that much was sure.

When the blonde looked around, she noticed that Gaia and Niylah were missing. They must be on the hunt as usual. Her aunty O and Miller were busy watering the crops. They took the seeds, that were stored on Bardo. A variety of various seeds like Pumpkins, potatoes, celery, various herbs and spices and of course tomatoes. Echo still had a special relationship to her planted seeds. She would secretly speak to them, thinking no one would hear her. Truth be told, everyone knew, but Hope dared anyone to make fun of her.

Jackson and Clarke sat on another table. They were their only doctors and so they discussed, who would teach the volunteers today and who would stay, in case one of their people needed medical attention. Not only did they settled onto earth, but also all of the Eligius prisoners, wonkru and a few of Sanctum’s citizens. The Eligius prisoners claimed the bunker, the moment they set foot onto earth again and nobody complained. Calling themselves Eligians, trying to shed their bad image as criminals. Everyone deserved a second chance here on earth, no matter their crime. Just starting at zero. They all done terrible things in the name of survival. Killing people, innocent and guilty alike to buy them another day. Who were they to judge? Now everyone agreed to work together and do better.

Not even 50 miles away from their little settlement, build the people of Sanctum their new home. They named themselves the Faithful. Keeping their believes, but instead of worshipping false gods, they worshipped humans themselves. Every human life was holy for them, so they swore off violence and hate.

Of all the clans, only a few hundred people had survived. But they were enough to split into the original clans. And so, they did just that. They settled into the lands of their ancestors. Lands they didn’t recognize anymore. It would take some time to make it feel like home again, but they had hope that the future would be much more peaceful than their past. 

So far everything was harmonious between all fifteen groups and weekly communications would promise to keep it that way. One representative of each group would negotiate land and resources. Somewhat like the ambassadors back then, but without a Heda. The flame was destroyed when Sheidheda wanted to take over Madi’s mind. No more commanders. No more gods. No more dictators. They were all equal now and every group had a voice. 

Sharing resources didn’t only mean objects like weapons to hunt or food to eat. It meant knowledge too. Every group contributed knowledge in various fields. The azgeda clan was good with bow and arrow. They taught the Eligians how to use them, in order to hunt for prey with a high flight instinct. In exchange the Eligians showed the clans how to effectively mine for iron. With iron they could make tools like plows, to use on their fields to sow and plant more efficiently. Every former clan had their own unique profession and the little group of their own had knowledge on medicine. So, Clarke and Jackson taught thirty students, two of each group. For the past four months they would meet up in the communal cottage. An outpost, all of them had established, to meet up for their weekly group meetings. 

They would rebuild society again. All of them were sure of it. Truly the last of human kind, a few on Sanctum and a few on earth. Scattered across the stars, but determined to change the future for the sake of the past. 

Murphy was sitting across the table, holding a crying baby. It was the first baby, which was born on earth, since it was destroyed. He gave their little colony a sign. A sign that their settlement will flourish. Murphy tried to sooth him, but the little boy just didn’t want to calm down. “Babe, I think he’s in need of a fresh diaper.” Emori chuckled.

“How much does a little human shit?” He asked in astonishment and held the baby in the air in front of him. “Huh little Bellamy? Tell me your secret.” Murphy cooed at the baby. Then he stood up and made his way into his and Emori’s cabin.

“Wo knew that he would be a father someday?” Octavia asked no one in particular, as she washed off her dirty hands.

“No no, the question you should ask is ‘who knew he would be that good at it?’” Clarke chuckled as she thought of what a dickhead Murphy was back then. He was the blueprint of a bully and she always wanted to smack off that annoying grin on his face.

“Where do you think you’re going, young lady?” Clarke addressed Maddie, who walked past her. The teenager held the hand of Luca and dragged him along and into the woods. 

“Nowhere.” Maddi answered too quickly and the boy next to her began to blush. “Just hang out, you know?” She looked away and down to her feet.

“Let them have a little fun, Griffin.” Miller came up behind the blonde and gave her a clap on the back. Since Luca didn’t have any parents, he and Jackson sort of adopted the boy. “You’re bringing her back before it gets dark. Isn’t that right?”

“Yes of course!” The flustered boy nodded hastily, but calmed down somewhat as he felt the squeeze of his girlfriend’s hand.

Clarke nodded at that as she fixed the boy with a stern look. She was Maddi’s mother and it was her job to scare off boys. And to be honest it was fun too, now she knew how her parents had felt when she brought home boys back on the Ark.

“Yes! Thank you!” Both teenagers ran off into the woods, glad to have a little privacy.

“You don’t have to be that strict you know?” Two arms encircled Clarke from behind and the blonde sank into the warm figure behind her. The blonde sighed as she turned around and gazed into the warm eyes of Gaia.

She wasn’t sure if she would love again, after Lexa. Then Gaia showed her otherwise, the fleimkepa mutual love for Maddi brought them closer and she realized, that she deserved to be happy again. Clarke deserved a second chance and she knew that Lexa would’ve wanted that too for her.

When Murphy was done with changing diapers, he laid little Bellamy into his crib to sleep. When Murphy walked out the door, he waved at the radio in his hand. “Guess who organized babysitters?”

“No way!” Octavia said surprised as her mouth hung open, making an o-shape. She raised her fists up in the air and screamed. “We’re back bit-“ and was cut off buy Echo’s hand covering her mouth. When the spy dropped her hand again, she shook her head at the brunette. “I’m sorry.” The Blake whispered as she looked at Sky, who smiled at her.

“So, who volunteered?” Hope looked at Murphy as the man sat down next to her. He stole a piece of cheese from her plate and popped it into his mouth. “Dave and his wife from the Faithful. I saved their sons life. He said he and his wife would happily watch our kids for a few hours.”

“Niylah, babe. Tell me you have enough booze ready for tonight?” Octavia walked to her girlfriend and held her face inside her hands. Giving the grounder no other chance as to look at her.

“Sha.” The blonde tried to smile, but Octavia’s hands squeezed her cheeks together, making it impossible. If the grounder wanted to smile, she sure does now because of the kiss Octavia gave her.

“So they just agreed to take care of…what?...five children?” Diyoza raised her eyebrows as she supported herself on the table Murphy and Hope sat.

“Five? No.” The confused look on the man’s face was funny to the ex-terrorist, but years of training helped her keep up her façade. Murphy began to count aloud with his fingers. “Bellamy, Maddi, Luca and Sky. We have four children.”

“Mom stop it. I’m 26.” Hope crossed her arms and tried not to laugh, but her lips wobbled a little, giving her away.

“I know.” Diyoza smiled a sad smile and looked at Sky, who ran to her and hugged her legs. “Hey there, little one.” She bends down and picked her up. “Are you ready to go swimming?” The little girl nodded and the woman had to smile. “Yeah? Let’s go.” Diyoza had been teaching her how to swim and dive. Just like teaching Hope when she was a little kid. As a former navy seal, it would be a shame if her granddaughter wouldn’t know how to swim properly.

When the sun went down, Dave and his wife took the children with them. Picasso and her pups spent the evening at the campsite, like every night. Now it was a lot less loud and chaotic. Indra fed the fire with wood, making it crackle as red-orange sparks flew up in the air. Niylah, Octavia and Murphy fetched the home-brewed booze and they handed everyone a bottle.

“Let’s spice this up by playing never-have-I-ever.” Murphy suggested, as everyone sat down on the ground, backs resting on the logs that surrounded the fire. “Does everyone know the rules?” Since it was the first time all of them could get a night off, it was the first time playing for a few of them. “For those of you who don’t know: basically, someone tells something about what they did by saying ‘never have I ever’ and if you have done it too, you have to take a sip. Easy.” He paused and looked around. It were the usual pairs. Clarke and Gaia, Jackson and Miller, Octavia and Niylah, Echo and Hope and Raven and Gabriel. Indra said next to Octavia and Diyoza across of her daughter and Echo, the fire a barrier between them.

“Ok, I’ll start. Never have I ever had sex in a cave.” He and Emori took a sip. Then everyone else took a sip too, but Indra. When Hope saw her mother drink from her bottle, she nearly choked. Partially because it was the first time she tried alcohol and partially because she was surprised.

“Been there done that.” Her mother chuckled across the fire. Hope coughed and wiped her mouth. The taste of Niylah's moonshine was acidic. How could people actually enjoy drinking? If it wasn’t for the group, she would stop right there, but she didn’t want to ruin the night.

“My turn.” Clarke licked her lips. “Never have I ever eaten disgusting things to stay alive.” Referring to the time she spent alone on earth and surviving on bugs alone.

It was Murphy and Emori who took a sip. “Rats.” Was explanation enough. 

“Cheers.” At that Diyoza raised her bottle and swallowed a mouthful of booze.

“Who wants to go next?” Gabriel asked, as he looked through the round. Raven rested her hand on his leg and squeezed it. At this gesture of affection, he looked at his girlfriend who started to raise her bottle. “Never have I ever spacewalked.” The mechanic grinned as she heard the disapproval of her companions. Now she was the only one who was allowed to drink.

“Oh I see, we’re playing dirty?” Octavia had a glint in her eyes and took a deep breathe. “Never have I ever had to hide under the floor.” It was not only her that was drinking, because Hope took a sip too.

After several rounds it was Hope’s turn and the blonde had to think hard to come up with something. “Never have I ever did skinny-dipping.” It was visible that she was tipsy because she giggled way too much. ‘Oh this is why people like to drink alcohol’

Echo found it amusing and smiled against her drink. She remembered how they would skinny-dip in the summer on Skyring. How they would sneak away from the cabin, late at night and go to their secret spot. The water was still warm from the heat of the day.

“Mmmh that’s kinky.” Murphy said with a mischievous grin and it was clear that he had an idea. “since everyone had their turn, let’s switch games and play truth or dare.” He received several grunts of approval. “The one who suggests the game gets the first turn. That’s particularly the law.” The man slurred matter-of-factly as he pointed his finger at Indra. “Truth or dare.” The grounder contemplated for a few seconds but chose truth and since his tongue was freed up from all the alcohol, he blurted out a question, that he would never ask if he was sober. “Did you even have sex?”

When all the sexual stuff came up, Indra wouldn’t drink and she was probably the most sober person in camp. The other person was Diyoza, who could drink grown man under the table. A calculated ‘no’ was everything that went past the warrior’s lips. Truth be told, she wasn’t interested in such activities. Never felt the urge to get intimate with anyone and it was fine. Only ever loved one man, who she fought side by side on the battle field. One day they came past a village, that was attacked by Azgeda. Every man, woman and child were brutally killed and their houses burned to the ground. Within all the death and destruction, they found a little girl. So, they took her in and raised her like their own. Naming her Gaia – earth – because she was life, the only survivor of her village.

“Indra, it’s your turn.” Diyoza pointed out, when the silence stretched on for a beat too long and so Indra chose her. And of course, the ex-terrorist would choose dare. The grounder came up with the perfect task.

“It seems, we’re the only ones left that are still sober and I always wanted to challenge you to a combat.” Indra suggested and Diyoza smirked. “What do you have in mind?” They settled for a limited field, drawing a circle on the dirt. It was just big enough to walk three big steps in it. The first who would hit the ground or step foot out of the circle, would lose.

Both women stepped inside and raised their balled fists. First, they circled each other and Indra was the first to attack. With a swift motion, Diyoza side stepped the attack, grabbed her by the arm, all while sweeping her off the ground. The grounder used the momentum to hold onto the navy seal so both would fall to the ground. It was a tie and the others cheered and even whistled, too amused and happy to care less.

When both sat down on their logs again, Diyoza didn’t waste any time and chose Echo. “Truth or dare.” With a raised eyebrow the spy said dare. “I dare you to chug your drink in one go.” Echo’s bottle was half empty and it took her no time to drink it up, when she was done, she swiped her mouth with the back of her hand and grinned at her equally grinning mother-in-law.

“Truth or dare, babe.” The spy turned to her wife and looked into her beautiful hazel eyes. The pupils where dilated due to the alcohol and Hope had her mouth open in an O shaped form, seemingly surprised and turned on at what Echo just did.

“Stop eye-fucking her and choose.” Raven laughed as she took a sip of her drink. This pulled the blonde out of her trance and she finally mumbled dare. 

“I dare you to kiss me.” Echo slurred, the alcohol hitting her full force now and she didn’t care what the others would say or think or if Diyoza watched. They sure kissed and showed affection in front of her, but never in this intoxicated condition they were in right now. The hazel eyed woman closed the gap between them and gave her wife a kiss on her nose tip. When she leaned back and saw how Echo’s lips curled up into a pout, she laughed. “You didn’t specify where.”

It went like this for the rest of the night. Laughter and giggles rang through the air and into the darkness of the forest, as the little group of their found family had their fun. Nobody really knew when or how they passed out and how a few of them managed to get inside their cabins again. All Hope knew was, that she snuggled up beside Echo, nose buried inside the crook of her neck. When all her senses came back again, she felt how her head pounded and she tasted a disgusting taste inside her mouth. 

“Good morning, ai hodnes.” Hope leaned slightly back, away from Echo’s neck to look her in the eyes. When the brunette went in to kiss her, the younger woman backed away even further and held her hand up against her mouth.

“I have the most disgusting morning breath I’ve ever had.” The blonde mumbled behind her hand, with red tainted cheeks from embarrassment and they got even redder, when the woman in front of her laughed.

“You might have vomited last night.” Echo got into a sitting position and launched forward, topping Hope and trapping her arms above her head. “And I don’t care how bad it smells. I want my morning kiss.” So, the spy pressed their lips together.

Two hours went by and Dave would be here any second to drop the children off. The adults made sure to tidy up their mess, collecting every lone bottle off the ground. When Hope looked around the camp, she was glad that she wasn’t the only one sporting a hungover. Gabriel, Murphy and Octavia groaned and tried to block the sun from their sensitive eyes or they would run to the nearest bush, to empty out their stomachs. The blonde sat at the table and flinched at the loud voice of her mother, that beamed behind her. “Good morning, little one.” She tried to hide her smirk behind her façade, but it broke out into a loud laugh when she saw, how hungover her daughter was.

“Mom.” Hope groaned. “Please, could you maybe be a little less loud?” She whispered as she held her head inside her hands.

“Oh yeah no, I won’t.” Diyoza whispered back, as she sat down beside her and then she said. “I know it was your first time drinking, but here’s a little advice for the future: If you can’t handle your liquor, you should at least know your limits.” Then she stood up again and walked away, but not before calling out that she will be back soon, with something to cure her hungover.

“Mommy!” Hope groaned even louder when she heard Sky’s voice and she made a mental note, to never drink again, or at least not as much as last night. The five-year-old run up to her and hugged her mother from the side. They were nearly at eye level, because Hope was still seated at the table.

“Hey, baby.” The blonde tried not to grimace, when her little daughter started to babble in the loud volume, a five-year-old had. Her head pounded more and more each passing second, she thought that someone stood behind her and drilled a hole inside her skull. Her savior came around the corner and Sky interrupted herself, to run up to her nomon. By then, her own mother finally came back with a glass in hand. Inside the glass was a yellowish mush. It looked disgusting and when Hope’s facial expression wasn’t anything to go by, it got even worse when Diyoza said ‘drink up’.

“Are you serious?” The blonde held the glass in front of her and looked at the nasty mushy content with a scrunched up nose.

“I’m dead serious. It’s up to you though. Sky is back, which means she wants to play or talk with you and doing that while feeling like your head will explode? Have fun with that.” And this was all the convincing she needed when she gulped it down. Its texture was just as nasty and weird as its taste and Hope had to use all her willpower, not to spit it out again. “Thought so.” Her mother smirked as she took the glass again. The ex-terrorist put a hand on her daughters’ cheek and stroked it. “You’ll feel better in no time. It’s a special recipe I’ve learned from my mama.”

“You’ve never told me about her or anything about life before the bombs.” Hope was surprised that this came up right now. She always wanted to know more about her family. The only time her mother told her anything, it was about her own father and what a psychopath he was. After that Diyoza never lost a word about family again.

“She was the toughest woman I’ve ever met.” Her mother had a distant look in her eyes and a sad smile on her lips. “After my father left us, she raised me and my three siblings alone.” Hope listened spellbound to what her mother had to say. “She came to America to have a better life. The country she was born and grew up in, Bosnia, was nearly destroyed through war and corrupt politicians. In America she met my father and me, my sister and my two brothers were born. That’s why I became a navy seal. I wanted to change something, but America had corrupted politicians too and so I didn’t see any other way-” Closing her eyes for the briefest of moments, Diyoza thought back to the time, she became a terrorist. Of how many lives she had took. Innocent and guiltily alike.

“This is in the past now. I did bad things too, but that doesn’t mean I’m a bad person. We did what we did, to protect the people we love.” The blonde nodded, her headache nearly gone. So, this mush really does wonders. Her mother knew that this was true and false, all at the same time.

The day went by in no time and it was night again. By now, Diyoza made everyone, who was hungover, her special anti-hungover-mush. Like Hope before, they refused to take it at first, but were thankful and surprised at how fast it worked.

All of them went inside their cabins to retire for the night. Echo and Hope tugged their daughter in. Every cabin had two rooms, which had the sole purpose to be bedrooms. Those who only needed one bedroom, because they didn’t have any children, used the other as a living room.

“Goodnight nomon. Goodnight mommy.” Sky mumbled sleepily. She played hide and seek with the other children, that visit them every other day. Echo laid the blanked over her little frame and gave her a kiss on the forehead. “Good night, goufa.”

When the brunette stepped back, Hope leaned forward and peppered her with kisses all over her face. “I love you so much, my little one.” The blonde said between kisses and her daughter giggled tiredly.

The pair left the room and went into their own. After stripping down to only underwear and a t-shirt, both women climbed into bed. Like a magnet they snuggled into each other, Echo laid on her back while Hope was half on top of her.

“You ever think how our lives would be, if you wouldn’t have touched my arm back then, when we entered the anomaly?” Hope thought out loud, stroking her thumb over the scar on the brunettes left side. “I love you, Echo.”

Echo always thanked every higher being, fate or whatever that made this possible. Her life was complete, the war was finally over and her family was safe and sound, with her on earth – their home. “Ai hod yu in.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for sticking with me and reading my brain vomit. It means a lot <3
> 
> May we meet again

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a kudo/comment if you liked it :)
> 
> ECHOPE ENDGAME
> 
> I'm trying to do weekly updates <3


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